You know what? Unlike the person above, I am not a Joan Jett fan. But Erika was, so she dragged me along to Joan Jett and The Blackhearts’ headlining show Sunday night at the Summerfest grounds. No, it’s not 1987 anymore, but Joan Jett die-hards weren’t hard to come by. Now I understand why; Jett […]
May 18, 2007
what The Hold Steady when 8 p.m. tonight, May 18 where Stage Door, Orpheum Theatre, 216 State St. Madison how much $16, sold out At last night’s awesome The Hold Steady show, I met bassist Galen Polivka’s mom, Faye. Galen’s family was out full force to support the band’s Wisconsin dates (they perform in Madison […]
May 18, 2007
Minus the Bear, otherwise known as “the band that could’ve been metal if they didn’t eat too many magic mushrooms,” performed at the Pabst Theater last night. It was a great show — the Seattle quintet is so tight that their songs’ starts and stops are as much of a highlight as their chord progressions. […]
May 17, 2007
Mastodon was supposed to play on Thursday, May 10, at the Rave. But due to the drummer’s illness, they canceled at the last minute. Did we mind? A little. But there were still three other awesome bands on that night — Against Me!, Cursive, Flosstradamus and !!!, plus some moshing on the side. Here’s proof. […]
May 13, 2007
what The Academy Is…, which opens for Fall Out Boy. when 6 p.m., Thursday, May 17. where Bradley Center, 1001 N 4th St. how much $23-$33 more www.theacademyis.com As compadres of eyeliner-wearing Pete Wentz and the rest of the Fall Out Boy crew, it’s easy to dismiss The Academy Is… as a bunch of dandy-fop […]
May 3, 2007
For many music fans, Coachella is better than Christmas. So when I found out that the festival was expanding to three days, I was ecstatic. Then I got really upset when it sold out in February. I was lucky; I got a ticket eventually. But although this year isn’t a big mad rush to see […]
May 2, 2007
Driving to this year’s festival (check out the windmills enroute to Indio) I decided that I was only going to watch bands that I: a.) hadn’t seen before b.) were foreign, because they don’t usually come to Milwaukee or c.) bands I really really really really really loved. (Such as the Arcade Fire.) Alas, things […]
May 1, 2007
Why go to Coachella at all? It’s far, expensive, it sells out so fast, it’s hot and tiring — but there’s nothing in the country like it. You spend three days of non-stop music in a California polo field, where you can strip to just a bikini if you want to and walk barefoot, drink […]
April 23, 2007
**Update: Here is a link to another review of the show by Mirrworld with video of Oberst sinking into the audience!** When Conor Oberst got on the Pabst Theater stage in an all-white suit, it seemed like the audience was in store for a quaint, old-school vaudeville show and not a John Travolta-ish extravaganza, even […]
April 14, 2007
What headliner starts a show at 9 p.m.? Joshua Radin, that’s who. And I discovered at Shank Hall on Friday night that his name is pronounced Ray-dihn, like radium instead of radish, like I thought it was. It was a sweet, laid-back show, and you could feel the love in the air. Not just from […]
June 12, 2007
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