Milwaukee bars, bands, concerts, summerfest thread

[tower912]

Loved the conversation that took over in another thread, so I thought I would start one designated for it because I am having trouble remembering which basketball thread has which side discussion going on.    I have seen the BoDeans more than a dozen times.   Loved their summerfest shows, especially '90 when they played the Old Style (IIRC) stage at night and then did another show at noon the next day that featured their B-sides plus some one of their songs with Robbie Robertson.    Saw them play Pabst theater while taking a break from opening for U2's Joshua Tree tour.   Violent Femmes side project (Mercy Seat?) opened for them.   
  I remember the night that one of the Femmes (Gano?) came down and played an acoustic set in the Mugrack.   Also saw Chris Farley try to do stand up at the Mugrack.   Tracy Chapman opening for 10,000 Maniacs.      Went and saw REM in Madison.    Trying to explain Summerfest to those who haven't gone is always fun.   

[ATWizJr]

South End Blues Band. Playing Summerfest on July 1, noon on the Harley stage. Older?  How about Sam McCue and The Legends or The Shag?

[Spotcheck Billy]

My formative years music wise were in the 70's

too many summerfest shows to ever recall them all but the ones that ended up as rainouts seem easier to remember. IIRC, I saw the Allman Bros. get rained out twice, the 1st time after Enlightened Rogues probably in 1979, the Dixie Dregs opened but unfortunately after maybe only 4-5 songs into the ABB set, the sky opened up and the show was canceled

another time it was Marshal Tucker and Charlie Daniels that was cut short by rain, still remember the drunks doing belly flops off the bleachers into puddles

1986, INXS's set was cut due to another storm, they closed the grounds and kicked everyone out even though it was still daylight and the rain stopped while we were still in the traffic jam getting out, we ended up at Good Time Charlies after taking our driver to the hospital after he cut his hand open breaking the car window of the person that side-swiped his car and drove off; this night was also memorable as I ws moving to North Carolina the next day

who can forget how big Huey Lewis and the News was back in their time, their show headlining the Main stage was unbelievably packed, especially looking back now at whata flash in the pan they were

best show I remember was when the Fabulous Thunderbirds opened for SRV, I sat in line from 11AM waiting for the Main stage to open, those from that time will know that this was at the old Main stage that was entirely first come first served seating so I sat in line outside the Main stage while Phil Donahue broadcast his show on the stage next door, for some reason, I remember he featured Elvis impersonators that day, anyway, I ended up in 2nd row with about a dozen friends and will always remember Jimmy Vaughn and SRV playing the same double neck guitar for SRV's encore - now that's a reach-around!

[BrewCity83]

I was at that INXS show that got rained out.  The Elvis Brothers opened and played their set with their stand-up drummer Brad Elvis (he is now a member of the Romantics). Then between acts the storm hit and the grounds started flooding.  INXS never took the stage, then they closed the grounds, must've been around 8:30.  I remember seeing drunks belly-flopping from picnic tables into puddles, and walking through the water barefoot and shirtless.

I was at the Huey Lewis show there too, when they set an attendance record at the old Main Stage.  I think they had over 30,000 people jammed into that show.  That led to the plans for the Marcus Ampitheater.  Definitely not the same atmosphere.

[StillAWarrior]

Loved the conversation that took over in another thread, so I thought I would start one designated for it because I am having trouble remembering which basketball thread has which side discussion going on.

You've been at this long enough to know that no 'Scoop thread ever stays on topic.  We had a nice thing going over there, and you just killed it.  How long before this thread devolves into yet another [fill in your "favorite" 'Scoop topic] pissing match?

[Spotcheck Billy]

I saw a few of the shows put on at County Stadium as well, Pink Floyd's infamous rain show in 1975, the exploding pig show in 1977 and then the Waters-less line-up in 1987

the Grand Slam Jam (no it was NOT sponsored by Denny's) with Nugent, Cheap Trick, Heart & Journey; another show with Jefferson Starship, Foreigner, Nazareth and Bob Welch

as far as Alpine Valley besides big acts like the Grateful Deadi n '85 and Springsteen in '84, I was fortunate in the early-mid 80's that a buddy of mine was the Saturday afternoon DJ on WMSE and didn't have a car so anytime he had ticket giveaways he'd call me to let me know I was his 4th caller, Bow Wow Wow, the English Beat among many others

as far as riots at concerts, unfortunately I was ata few of those but I swear I didn't start them: 1976(?) Judas Priest at the Rock stage, the New Barbarians in 1979 and then the BOC/Black Sabbath riot in 1980 which was taped by a friend whose story is here: http://www.derekerdman.com/ilovemilkshakes/november2006/RIOT/black_sabbath_riot_ok.htm

[warriorchick]

You've been at this long enough to know that no 'Scoop thread ever stays on topic.  We had a nice thing going over there, and you just killed it.  How long before this thread devolves into yet another [fill in your "favorite" 'Scoop topic] pissing match?

Lighten up Francis.

Anyhoo, my friends and I sat on in the Main Stage all day long for the Huey Lewis show.  It was incredible.  It was the largest crowd they had ever played for.  I will never forget giving us his famous "looking over the sunglasses" look, except that his facial expression was "Holy Crap! Look how many people came out to see us!"

They played a couple of extra encores - they were just improvising at the end.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

Widespread Panic at Summerfest in 1997 is one of the best shows I've ever seen live.  Great show, absolutely incredible vibe.

[BrewCity83]

Lighten up Francis.

Anyhoo, my friends and I sat on in the Main Stage all day long for the Huey Lewis show.  It was incredible.  It was the largest crowd they had ever played for.  I will never forget giving us his famous "looking over the sunglasses" look, except that his facial expression was "Holy Crap! Look how many people came out to see us!"

They played a couple of extra encores - they were just improvising at the end.

That Huey Lewis show was booked when they weren't that big, but then they released "Sports" and it just exploded.  I think at the show Huey announced that the album had just gone platinum or hit #1 or something.  I also remember him amazed at how big the crowd was.

I worked at Summerfest in crowd control from 1979-1983 so I was there every night, usually at the main stage.  We saw everything from Kool & the Gang, Jackson Browne, Journey (was so loud that my ears were ringing the next day), Rick Springfield (LOTS of girls at that one), the GoGo's, George Thorogood, Steve Miller Band, the Stray Cats (went backstage for that one...my friend played catch before the show with Brian Setzer who threw like a girl).

[Spotcheck Billy]

Man, if I had a dollar for every show that made my ears ring the next day...thanks to such stupidity my ears are still ringing!

[warriorchick]

Man, if I had a dollar for every show that made my ears ring the next day...thanks to such stupidity my ears are still ringing!

Mine, too.  They really got destroyed at an AC/DC concert two years ago when I happened to be sitting right by the cannons they shoot off during "For Those About to Rock".

[BobWildLoyalist]

Widespread Panic at Summerfest in 1997 is one of the best shows I've ever seen live.  Great show, absolutely incredible vibe.

+1

[BrewCity83]

How about the World Series of Rock at County Stadium in around 1981-82 maybe?  The first year they had REO Speedwagon, the Outlaws, Triumph and Blackfoot and the second year they had Foreigner, Loverboy, .38 Special and Quarterflash, I think.  May have mixed some of that up.

[Spotcheck Billy]

I was also at the Who show the Rock 'N roll animal forced into stopping here and yes of course Entwistle was with them then and for many years to come

I didn't attend MU so missed most of the shows associated with MU but did take advantage of all the shows subsidized by ZMF, QFM and LPX. I recall seeing the bands UK, Billy Squier, April Wine, RamJam (Black Betty lol), Trooper, Angel, Triumph, Graham Parker, the Godz, Yesterday & Today(later renamed Y&T) and others at the Uptown or Riverside for anywhere from 98 cents to $2.98. The mens room at the Uptown was frickin' wild at intermissions, if you were there you know what I mean.

The Riverside prior to it's remodeling was a great cheap venue for shows, my first show there was Rush in 1977 touring for the All the world's a stage LP.

God bless Randy McElrath's Stardate productions, I had stood in line freezing for tickets (remember those times?) for a YES show that was to take place on the Summerfest grounds, not during Summerfest, in 1977 (Going for the one tour) and they moved the show to the Auditorium or Arena for some reason and didn't really announce a ticket exchange so when we found out we had to trade in our tickets we got crap seats. I called Stardate to complain because we ended up with nosebleeds, Peggy McElrath told me anytime I wanted tickets in the future to send in a mail order before tickets went on sale so when Rush/Pat Travers was announced for January 1978, myself and 24 high school friends pooled $ and I got 25 seats/3 rows front and center.  Even though there was an incredible blizzard all of us made it there.

I ended up with front row seats for alot of shows that way, future Rush shows(loved them in my HS days), Zappa, Ozzie's Black Sabbath/Van Halen, Cheap Trick, UFO/Judas Priest, Molly Hatchet/the Outlaws, Rossington Collins band, Yes in the round, Supertramp, Head East Bad Company. I made a deal with my brother that I'd get the seats and he'd make copies for me of the pics he'd take with his 35mm like this one from Rush in December 1978

[mu_hilltopper]

Reminds me .. I think it was 1990 summerfest .. my roommate and I went to the Depeche Mode concert .. after, we hopped the bus back to campus.  In the crush of humanity trying to get on buses, we didn't notice we hadn't gotten on the one that goes up Wisconsin Avenue .. we got on a freeway flyer.   Goodbye MU campus .. bye bye Wauwatosa .. I think we ended up in Waukesha or further out with 15 other drunkards who also got on the wrong bus.

The bus lady turns around and wonders why we're still on the bus as she tells us "last stop."   As we make the long, dark return trip to downtown, we ask her if she could just exit on Wisconsin ave, and drop us off.  She radios in for guidance: rejected.   A few of us start openly talking about hijacking the bus but none of us were drunk enough to do so, and our journey ended .. back at Summerfest.  FFFFF****

[BrewCity83]

That reminds me of the time we hit Summerfest on July 3rd, the night of the big fireworks (around 1982).  There were so many people at the lakefront, traffic was at a standstill.  I was with a few UWM friends so we decided to go to Judge's on North Ave; one had a car parked in a Summerfest lot.  When we saw how backed up the whole traffic situation was, we decided to walk from the south end of Summerfest to Judges.  I don't know how far that is, but we beat the guy with the car by about a half hour!

[Lighthouse 84]

  Went and saw REM in Madison.     

I was at that show.  They did CCRs "Have you ever seen the rain?".....one of the guys I was with commandeered the board mix tape from the show and gave us all copies.  Great show.

Another great show in Madtown in 84...Neil and the Shocking Pinks.  Acoustic Neil Young and then Neil with his band at the time.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Another great show in Madtown in 84...Neil and the Shocking Pinks.  Acoustic Neil Young and then Neil with his band at the time.

FYI, there is currently a Shocking Pinks flood going up over on dimeadozen including the Madison show from 9/21/1983

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Bodean's update - I bought tickets over the weekend to see the Bodeans at a Connecticut theater located way out in the sticks.  I'm not sure why they're playing where they're playing, but I still couldn't pass up the 1 hour plus drive to take Mrs. MU Fan in CT to see them.  I have front row seats.  The one drawback is I have to wait until October.  I would have liked to see their summertime New York City show also, but I'll be on vacation.

[BrewCity83]

Bodean's update - I bought tickets over the weekend to see the Bodeans at a Connecticut theater located way out in the sticks.  I'm not sure why they're playing where they're playing, but I still couldn't pass up the 1 hour plus drive to take Mrs. MU Fan in CT to see them.  I have front row seats.  The one drawback is I have to wait until October.  I would have liked to see their summertime New York City show also, but I'll be on vacation.

I hope you heard that Sammy Llanas left the BoDeans last summer.   

[Hards Alumni]

Reminds me .. I think it was 1990 summerfest .. my roommate and I went to the Depeche Mode concert .. after, we hopped the bus back to campus.  In the crush of humanity trying to get on buses, we didn't notice we hadn't gotten on the one that goes up Wisconsin Avenue .. we got on a freeway flyer.   Goodbye MU campus .. bye bye Wauwatosa .. I think we ended up in Waukesha or further out with 15 other drunkards who also got on the wrong bus.

The bus lady turns around and wonders why we're still on the bus as she tells us "last stop."   As we make the long, dark return trip to downtown, we ask her if she could just exit on Wisconsin ave, and drop us off.  She radios in for guidance: rejected.   A few of us start openly talking about hijacking the bus but none of us were drunk enough to do so, and our journey ended .. back at Summerfest.  FFFFF****

I had a similar experience.  Took the Murphys/Caffs bus down, and hopped on a bus that was going out to UWM... Luckily my friend and I realized it when we were close to the Bradley Center and asked to be let off.

I'll be at Foo Fighters on Thursday... anyone else?

[warriorchick]

I had a similar experience.  Took the Murphys/Caffs bus down, and hopped on a bus that was going out to UWM... Luckily my friend and I realized it when we were close to the Bradley Center and asked to be let off.

I'll be at Foo Fighters on Thursday... anyone else?

Would have loved to fight some Foo with you, Hards, but we were too slow in trying to get tix, and just can't bring ourselves to pay what the scalpers are asking right now.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I hope you heard that Sammy Llanas left the BoDeans last summer.   

Well that stinks.  Half is still better than none.

[brewcity77]

I think I'm a bit younger than some here (born in 1977), but I remember my sister introducing me to the Femmes in the early 1980s with "Old Mother Reagan". Saw them a few times once I was old enough to go to concerts, out in Waukesha, down at the Maritime Days, and at Summerfest (probably others too). Those were all 1990s, though.

Anyone here remember Citizen King? Seemed primed to be the next big group from Milwaukee in the mid-1990s. They announced at a Summerfest free show that they had been signed by a major label, which brought cheers from the audience, though ultimately was the band's downfall. I think they started with Epic, though that fell through. They were optioned to another label, then finally landed with Warner Brothers, who put their major label album out, albeit 3 years later than initially expected. By that time, bands like Smash Mouth, 311, and Sublime found commercial success with a style very similar to CK's, and by the time their album was released in 1999, it sounded like a rip-off of those bands. It's a shame, I really think they could have hit it huge if their album had come out in 1996 when that sound was blowing up.

[Hards Alumni]

Would have loved to fight some Foo with you, Hards, but we were too slow in trying to get tix, and just can't bring ourselves to pay what the scalpers are asking right now.

It was a fairly expensive show to begin with, what are they asking now?  ($75 for face, not even in the front sections)