Vivarium 1 Year Anniversary Party

Can you believe it? Vivarium has been thriving on Milwaukee's East Side for an entire year already! We can't think of a better way to celebrate than with you and some of our favorite local artists! So join us this Saturday, February 22nd for a $10 show featuring The Erotic Adventures of The Static Chicken, Caley Conway, & Holy Pinto. Proceeds will benefit Friendship Circle of Wisconsin in memory of Alderman Jonathan Brostoff. We’ll also be giving away tickets and goodies to say THANK YOU! You're going to like what we have in store for year 2.

Friendship Circle creates friendship in the lives of individuals with disabilities and those facing isolation while providing an opportunity to become a contributing member of the community. Through our programming, Friendship Circle aims to promote an inclusive community that values all individuals regardless of the challenges they face.

After 25 years of complete improvisation, The Erotic Adventures of the Static Chicken continues to take on audiences with an interactive journey through genre-defying grooves and soundscapes. The Static Chicken began in 2000, inspired by trips that co-founders Matt Turner and Jeremy Kuzniar, had taken to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Kuzniar was living with another Chicken co-founder Chris Vos, who now plays in the band the Record Company in Los Angeles, when the two were tossing out random band name ideas.

As Kuzniar recalled, "I said, 'Well, how about Static Chicken?' And Vos responded, 'No, no no, the Erotic Adventures of.' I hopped in my car and visited Matt at work to tell him."

Now a trio with Saxophonist Aaron VanOudenallen, the Static Chicken “doesn’t think, they just play. It’s almost a telepathic thing.”

Caley Conway is a Milwaukee-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, a trailblazer of the Midwest music community who has toured widely and shared stages with such heavy hitters as Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker. In her first full-length release since 2019's 'Surrounded Middle,' Conway brings us 'Partner' (out now on Crutch of Memory Enterprises), a keen examination of love, co-dependence, and the struggle to maintain one's autonomy as half of a pair. 
 

Holy Pinto is the indie-pop group led by songwriter, Aymen Saleh. It originally began in his hometown of Canterbury, England and now based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Beginning in the UK and influenced by a youthful raw, punk sound, they sweetened their sound over time-- creating colourful indie-pop with a genre-defying charm.

“Sweetly jangling, goodnatured Britpop — Dispensed with abundant charm and grace, his songs feel warm and lived-in.” Stephen Thompson, NPR