The Twelve Beers of Christmas

Beer aficionados often zestfully look forward to seasonal and special releases from craft breweries everywhere.  These innovative special blends are part of what makes the craft beer industry so great. Breweries experiment with ingredients like fruits, vegetables, spices, and varieties of hops to create beer with so much flavor and uniqueness. There are seasonal brews from Summer, Fall (including Halloween and pumpkin), Winter ales, and special Christmas blends. The Christmas beers can be difficult to find as breweries usually brew a very limited supply and they sell quickly. I wanted to put together a collection of Christmas beers that were named specifically for the Christmas holiday. I specifically did not include Winter ales. To share with you my favorite Christmas beers, here is my adaptation of a Christmas classic.

The Twelve Beers of Christmas

On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Holiday Spice Lager from Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, WI. 

A very special lager brewed with honey, oranges, and spices. The spices and hops balance the sweetness of the honey and malt to give this lightly hopped beer its perfect flavor.

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Holiday Porter from Sam Adams and the Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA.

A full-flavored porter with aroma of chocolate and coffee. Very smooth, lots of flavor, and very drinkable.

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Holiday 'Sucks' Ale from Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma, CA.

It's called 'Sucks' because Lagunitas were unable to brew their regular seasonal brew, BrownShugga Ale. Make no mistakes about it though, this is one fine beer. This american strong ale rates a 99 out of 100 on ratebeer.com, consistent with everything Lagunitas makes. I have yet to taste a brew from Lagunitas that I did not love.

On the 4th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Christmas Ale from Bell's Brewery, Kalamazoo, MI.

This malt driven scotch ale is made with 100% Michigan grown barley. In contrast to many other seasonal brews (Winter, pumpkin, etc.), Christmas Ale doesn't contain any spices. Plenty of flavor and very little bitterness.

On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Christmas Ale from Abita Brewing Co., Covington, LA.

Abita changes the recipe on their Christmas Ale, an amber ale, every year. It's not very strong this year...actually pretty weak with not a lot of flavor. I've had better.

On the 6th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Christmas Ale from Breckenridge Brewery, Denver, CO.

This american strong ale has rich flavors of caramel and chocolate and at 7% abv, it's definitely a 'Winter warmer'.

On the 7th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Our Special Ale from Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco, CA.

A very nice and smooth seasonal rated a 95 on ratebeer.com. Just slightly bitter with hints of spices. Excellent!

On the 8th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Christmas Ale from Great Lakes Brewing Co., Cleveland, OH.

Rated a 93 from ratebeer.com, this fine brew has a cinnamon and ginger spice flavor, a rich copper color, and a medium body that will fit with any holiday meal. Quite possibly the best Christmas Ale I've had so far!

On the 9th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Christmas Ale from Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL.

This Christmas Ale is a brown ale and is a deep garnet color and brewed with a generous amount of hops that adds that extra spicy aroma. Another fantastic beer from Goose Island, rated 93 from ratebeer.com.

On the 10th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Santa's Private Reserve Ale from Rogue Ales, Newport, OR.

This amber ale, rated 93, is a variation of Rogue's Red Ale, which seems somewhat appropriate. This one has double the hops, including a mystery hop called Rudolph by the head brewer.

On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Alpha Klaus Christmas Porter from Three Floyds Brewing Co., Munster, IN.

Rated 100 on ratebeer.com and 7.5% abv, this big American Christmas porter is brewed with chocolate malt, Mexican sugars, and lots of hops. Another absolutely fantastic brew from Three Floyds!

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Delirium Noel from the Huyghe Brewery, Melle, Belgium.

This spicy, crimson brew completes the Delirium trilogy (including Tremens and Nocturnum) of fantastic belgian strong ales and is, by far, my favorite of the seasonal Christmas ales. This ale is rated a 97 on ratebeer.com and is a stout 10% abv.  

Finding and sampling these beers was a lot of fun. I am especially pleased to have found twelve Christmas beers. I even have two more in the fridge that I did not include here. Maybe an addendum?  A friend of mine suggested that I do an advent calendar for next year...a whole month of Christmas/Winter brew.  That could be quite interesting. 

Five Finger..............Death Punch!

It's been a little while since I've been to a concert, but last night was a show that I had been anxiously awaiting for a few months now - Five Finger Death Punch. When I purchased tickets months ago, the lineup was supposed to be FFDP, All That Remains, Hatebreed, and Rev Theory. Of the four bands, I was most excited about FFDP and Rev Theory, but Rev Theory pulled out after one of the band members had some kind of an accident. They were replaced by a band called Rains. Having never heard of them, I listened to their music and I liked them. I liked them so much I bought the album. Though I was curious as to how they fit in with the other three bands on this tour. Rains is a bit softer, more like Evans Blue. Good rock tunes, but certainly not tear-it-up, speedy metal.

Arrived at The Rave about 6pm and was herded into one of the smaller bars downstairs to wait before they allowed us to go upstairs to the ballroom. I hate it when they do this. At least they had bands there playing while we waited. The band playing when I got in there was on their last song. No idea who they were, but I didn't think they were that good anyways. Then I recognized the next band as they were setting up. Hard to forget the big black guitar player and the smoking hot lead singer from Losing Scarlet. Saw them back on April 8 when I went to see Egypt Central. After their first song, the gates opened and upstairs I went. The stage setup was interesting and because it was already after 6:30 I was wondering if all four bands would play. The stage was setup with Hatebreed's banner separating the stage leaving about 10-12 feet of stage in the front for the bands to play. Right around 7pm, Rains took the stage. They only played five songs. The crowd did warm up to them a bit, but seemed happier when they finished.  I enjoyed them and would definitely see them again.

Up next was Hatebreed. I'm not a huge fan of this band, but they did put on a really good stage show. They had a lot of energy and got the crowd involved a lot. I know I've mentioned in the past that working the crowd and stage presence is something that separates the good bands from the bad ones. Don't get me wrong though, good music is important too. After Hatebreed got the crowd whipped up into a frenzy, All That Remains was next. Whereas Hatebreed is more of a guttural growler band, All That Remains is more of the screamo type. They ripped through a good set mixing in old songs and some off their new album. I did notice a couple of interesting things about this band. First, the bass player is a woman...and she's a growler. When they got to the parts of their songs where there was growling, she did it. The other thing I noticed was the drummer. Again, I've mentioned in the past that I do pay attention to drummers as they can make or break a band. All the drummers were good on this night, but the drummer for All That Remains held his drum sticks in the old school traditional way (see picture below), which I don't remember ever seeing from a hard rock or metal band.

Not even sure what time it was, but some time after All That Remains, Five Finger Death Punch took the stage. I thought they kicked ass too! Stage was set up with a lot of towered lights and several large video screens up high. The drum set was on like an elevator structure, which raised the drumkit up high in the middle of their set. FFDP opened with Under and Over It, then right into Salvation. American Capitalist was the only other song they played from their new album of the same name. The rest of the setlist included: Hard to See, The Way of the Fist, No One Gets Left Behind, Bad Company (Bad Company cover), White Knuckles, Far From Home, Bulletproof, Never Enough, The Bleeding, and the encore Burn It Down. A great setlist!! Great performance!!  I did manage to take a few decent pictures. Check them out if you'd like.

As of right now, my next show is An Evening With Corey Taylor on November 23.   Rock On Everybody!!

The Sound of Winter

No, I'm not hearing things nor am I hoping for the cold and snowy season of Winter. The Sound of Winter is the latest single released by the band Bush. The once extremely popular band had gone their separate ways in 2002 only to reunite and release a new album, The Sea of Memories, in 2011 that is both new in sound but also continues Gavin's amazing lyrical content. I do recommend you check it out.

You might be asking. "Why is he mentioning Bush's new album?"  I can tell you that I am not getting paid for this advertisement. I mention Bush's new album because I saw them in concert on Saturday, October 8, and it was an amazing show. I saw three bands - Filter, Chevelle, and Bush - that each could have been the headliner and all for less than $30. In fact, each of them has been a headliner at Summerfest in years past, though you would most likely never be able to see them in the same night.

A quick gripe...the venue website said the show started at 7:00. I arrived at The Rave at 6:30, because I wanted to check out the merch booth, only to find out that Filter was already playing. They must have started closer to 6. I ended up missing the first three songs, but still heard a few of my favorites, including Take a Picture and Hey Man Nice Shot. They did a pretty cool cover of ZZ Top's Gimme All Your Lovin' and also played (Can't You) Trip Like I Do, a collaboration with Crystal Method. During the performance of The Best Things, Richard Patrick body surfed through the crowd while singing. Pretty cool!

Taking the stage next was Chevelle. I love this band! Two brothers and a brother-in-law, I love the sound these three guys put out. Awesome bass grooves! These guys just get on stage and jam! This tour was a double-headliner, so Chevelle and Bush both played longer headliner sets. Chevelle played all of the usual favorites - Jars, Antisaint, Sleep Apnea, Well Enough Alone, Send the Pain Below, The Red, The Clincher - and played a new song called Face the Floor off their forthcoming new album. At one point, I believe it was during The Red, Pete's guitar wasn't working. The roadie brought out another one, but that one was apparently not tuned correctly. Third time's a charm. He was visibly annoyed. Finished out the set and tossed the guitar into the crowd and slammed his mic. Entertaining to say the least.

And finally...we've got Bush! Reunited after a ten year hiatus...well Gavin and the drummer are original members at least...fans packed The Rave for an awesome show! Kicking off the show with Little Things and then performing I Believe in You from their new album, they did a great job of introducing fans to their new songs while appeasing cult followers with some of their all-time hits such as Comedown, Machinehead, and Everything Zen. During their encore, they did a fantastic version of The Beatles' Come Together that had the crown singing along.

As with all of the concerts I see, I usually take some pretty good pictures. Check them out.

Thanks for reading. Rock on!!

Time sure does fly when you're having fun

And a lot of fun I have had over the last month or so. Let's see, my last post was August 23. Guess I never mentioned my birthday did I? I had a really great birthday (August 26). I took the day off work. Just a relaxing day. Weather was beautiful. I went golfing. Met some of my good friends for drinks at The Iron Horse. They have an awesome patio. Afterwards a few of us went to the Potawatomi Casino and played some Black Jack. My two friends left after about an hour. A couple hours after that, I left just $10 down. Not bad.

The following weekend, on September 3, I attended Milwauktoberfest, which was a part of the Made in Milwaukee festival at Cathedral Square Park. That was a really great time. The Milwauktoberfest showcased a dozen or so Wisconsin breweries. In case you are just tuning in, I'm a beer aficionado and any time I can sample some of Wisconsin's best beer, I'm there. Aside of Milwauktoberfest, the Made in Milwaukee festival showcased all kinds of art, crafts, and products that are made right here in Milwaukee. Several local bands played music throughout the day and night and the evening culminated in a fashion show. Never been to one of those before. It was quite interesting.

Fast forward just a little to September 17th and the Warrior Dash. This was a highly anticipated event. Described as a 3+ hellish mile run with about 12 obstacles, including fire, it was everything I had hoped it would be. Sure I have been nursing a stress fracture to my right foot for most of the year, but a bad foot wasn't going to keep me from running in this race. Oooh Rah!!! Attack!!!  Even with a bad foot I was able to finish in 30 minutes. What may be an even better part of this day was the discovery that I am a pro at axe throwing. I split an axe handle with another axe.  Check it out.

Sprinkle in rounds of golf throughout September and then I went to the WI Beer Expo. Yes, another beer tasting event. This one, however, was the worst one I have ever been to. First of all, all of the people behind the tables were volunteers and not from the breweries. So I couldn't really ask them about the beer. Second, for the price of admission, they could have done a lot better than hand-written signs. How about a few giveaways?  Ehhhh. Disappointing.

On September 29, I went on a VIP tour of the old Pabst Brewery. This was a really great event. A few cold Wisconsin beers and a behind the scenes look at the historical Pabst Brewery. Very nice.

Friday, September 30, was Brew Madness, a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I went last year with a friend and we sampled pretty much everything there. Fortunately the event is held at the Zoo, which is within walking distance from home. The unfortunate part of last year was that there was a bar, Mo's Irish Pub, in between the Zoo and home. Probably shouldn't have stopped. This year, my friend couldn't go, so I attended solo. Hell, I made friends. ;)  Since I had sampled most of the beer that was there, I concentrated on the ones that I had not had before. There were several really good brews. A couple of my favorites were Autumnal Fire from Capital Brewery and Orange & Black from Moylan's. I even showed a few people how good Buffalo Water's Bison Blonde tastes with vanilla ice cream. Yum.  Check out the pics.

Now the weather is getting cooler. Opportunities for golf are getting slimmer. One thing about Milwaukee though, is that no matter the season, no matter the weather, there is always something fun to do.

Coming up (so far):

• 10/8 - Bush, Chevelle, and Filter
• 10/29 - Milwaukee Haunted Tour & Dinner
• 11/2 - The Southern Gentlemen Tour featuring Ed Roland of Collective Soul and Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra
• 11/4 - Five Finger Death Punch, All That Remains, Hatebreed, and Rains

Catching up with my Summer

I realize I haven't written much lately, so I thought I'd catch you up on other events from my summer so far. Since I attended Rock USA 2011 in Oshkosh, WI, I have attended two beer festivals and another concert. Back on July 23, I went to the 2011 Milwaukee Firkin Craft Beer Festival, which was held at Cathedral Square Park in Milwaukee, WI. It should be no secret that I am a huge fan of craft beer, a beer aficionado if you will. I love trying new beer from all of the macrobreweries, microbreweries, and brewpubs from all of the U.S. Wisconsin has many great breweries other than the one it is most famous for, Miller. I personally have sampled well over 200 different beers from all over. Some are outstanding and others are not good at all, but each offers a different style and taste. I'm learning about beer all the time. Yes, I do have favorites. Much like the many different styles and flavors of wine, the craft beer industry has taken to brewing beer of all kinds. The Milwaukee Firkin Craft Beer Festival is a celebration of these specialty craft beers. There were over 90 beers available to taste, some brewed especially for the event. It was a great time with lots of great tastes! Here are some pictures from the event.

The following week, on July 30th, I attended the 2nd Annual Milwaukee Brewfest. This event was similar to the Firkin only much, much larger with over 120 beers to sample. No, I didn't sample them all, but I had my share. Thankfully I did not drive. I had purchased VIP tickets which got me in an hour earlier and allowed me to sample special 'VIP-only' brew. Because I have already sampled over 200 beers, I didn't need to taste all of them at this event. I concentrated on the special VIP beer and the one's I haven't sampled. There were many great beers. A couple breweries stood out - Howe Sound Brewing and Lowlands Brewing Company. There were three beers that I thought were fantastic: The Grand Saison from Grand Teton Brewing Company (Victor, ID), Peanut Butter Ale from Blue Moon, and Mango Sunset Lager from Delafield Brewhaus (Delafield, WI). Check out pictures from Brewfest.

Fast forward to August 14th and that is when I took in my next concert. We traveled an hour to Kenosha, WI for a show at The Brat Stop. The Brat Stop is basically a truck stop sort of restaurant that happens to have a stage. On this night, I was particularly excited about seeing Evans Blue, a great rock band that I have been wanting to see for a few years now. The opening act was a regional band called Soul Shaker. They were kind of a throwback southern style rock band. The lead singer looked like a cross between Axl Rose and Bret Michaels. They were decent, but not who I was there to see. Up next was Evans Blue. They just killed it! I was very impressed with the quality of the sound from such a small venue. I've mentioned in other posts how much I enjoy watching the drummers. Evans Blue's drummer, Howard Davis, is absolutely amazing! He is now my favorite drummer to watch play. Such energy! Such passion! Evans Blue played all of my favorites, well most of them anyways as I like all of their music. Pop Evil was the headliner. I saw them open for Chevelle and Buckcherry in 2009 and didn't think much of them then. I guess a couple years has done them well. They were really good. Unfortunately I wasn't familiar with most of their songs. I did, however, get to meet the lead singer and the drummer from Evans Blue while Pop Evil was playing. Check out the pics.

This has certainly been the year for me to meet bands. There was John Falls (singer) from Egypt Central; Dan Jordan (singer) from Kopek; Julia (singer) from Me Talk Pretty; Mandi (singer) from Of Verona; Tim King (bass), A.J. (guitar), and Jordan (singer) from SOiL; Sick Puppies; and Dan Chandler (singer) and Howard Davis (drummer) from Evans Blue. Still a few months left in the year too.

So what's next?

My birthday is this Friday (August 26th). I'll be competing in the Warrior Dash (a 3-mile race with obstacles) on September 17. I'll be seeing Bush, Chevelle, and Filter on October 8. I have tickets for the Southern Gentlemen Tour featuring Ed Roland of Collective Soul and Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra on November 2. Still have to purchase tickets for Five Finger Death Punch on November 8.  Lots of fun events over the next few months. Stay tuned!  Hope you are enjoying your Summer too!!

A Time to Reflect

From time to time throughout our lives, events occur that make us stop and think. Occurrences that make us take a deep breath, put life on pause, and reflect. These events that I write about are often sad and unfortunate. It is easy to let the pain and sorrow take control of you, if you let it. I choose to take a moment or two and think about my life and the many people in my life that I care about and those that have touched me in an emotional or spiritual way. I look at my life as a book and the many people I have met and the many relationships I have built all have their pages in my book. Some have only lasted a paragraph and others have lasted a couple of chapters. No matter how much space these people take up in my book, each and every one of them had a significant part in my life. I appreciate every one of them. I choose to accept people for who they are, whether they make it into my book of life or not. I understand that I may not agree with or get along with everyone and I accept that. I choose to be giving of myself to those that could use my help. I am important, but I choose to make the people in my life just as important. This probably is starting to not make any sense...

What I really want to say is...Cherish the people and the relationships in your life for however long you have them, for you never know how long you will have them. Reflect on the moments you share with the people in your book of life. I am and I appreciate every one in my book. I love and respect you all!

Shout It Out Loud

Here we go again. Less than a week after Summerfest ended, I went to yet another music festival. This time, I went to the inaugural Rock USA 2011 in Oshkosh, WI, at the site where they hold Country USA every year. Apparently they decided to try their hands at a rock show. It was a three-day festival with a decent musical lineup including Daughtry, Puddle of Mudd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Journey, Korn, and KISS. My friend and I decided that we would be going on the last day, which was yesterday. We felt it had the best lineup of the three days - Dokken, Hollywood Undead, Korn, and KISS.

The site is located in a huge field. They had campgrounds so people could camp out for three days, amusement park rides, several vendors, food, and beer. They apparently modeled it after Country USA by selling VIP tickets and having this very large section in front of the stage with plastic chairs. The size of this section forced general admission attendees to be one or two hundred yards away. The sad part about this VIP section was that it was never full. Each and every band that came to the stage, including KISS, made comments about wanting everyone to be closer. Hollywood Undead's comment was funniest as they said they never performed for so many white chairs before. The festival people need to realize that the fans that attend country shows are different from fans that attend rock shows. I can only imagine the size of the swirling mosh pit that would have ensued had that section not been blocked off. As it was, concerts are much more enjoyable when you can be up close. Since I wasn't that close, I also didn't take a lot of pictures, thought I did get a few. Check them out here.

Now on to the music...

Arrived about 4pm. First band I saw was Dokken. I saw them open for Aerosmith (I believe) back in the late 80's. George Lynch (original lead guitarist) hasn't been with the band for many years. Don Dokken can't quite hit those high notes anymore, so they sung and played some songs at a lower octave. I've always liked Dokken and they still jammed. Up next was Hollywood Undead. I had just seen them at Summerfest the previous Sunday. The show was better at Summerfest, which may have been attributed to being closer then than we were yesterday. The interesting thing to watch was the crowd. You go from an 80's hair metal band like Dokken to a new wave rap/metal band like Hollywood Undead and you certainly see changes in the crowd. Before HU took the stage you could see all of the younger kids moving up into the crowd. Then when they were over, they left. There were some older rock fans who were confused and surprised that so many people were singing along with HU. Good show!

The final two bands for the evening I had not seen before - Korn and KISS. Korn is an awesome band. KISS was more of a bucket-list band. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that the first time I was seeing Korn, or KISS for that matter, I was so far away from the stage. The first time I see a band, I like to be up close and really experience the performance and the sound. Korn came out and rocked me. No talking. No bullshitting in between songs. They were flowing seamlessly from one song to the next...UNTIL the sound system went out on the back speakers. By the mere fact that Korn kept going told me that they were unaware of the technical difficulties. The sound cut in and out a few more times and really soured my experience. At one point, my friends and I were preparing for things to get ugly in the crowd, but it never happened. From some things I've read today, it sounds as though it just may have been Korn's sound crew that messed this one up. Either way, it was disappointing. While I can say that I saw Korn, I'm not so sure I can positively say I heard them...at least not the entire set. Hopefully they will come around again soon.

Headlining this last night of Rock USA 2011 was none other than the "greatest show in the world", show being the operative word.  I've never been a big fan of KISS as a band. Sure they have been around for 40 years and have lots of commercial success with many songs that everyone can sing to, but I just feel that they are not a great band musically. Individually, they are all mediocre musicians. Seriously, Paul Stanley is a terrible singer. Eric Singer, the drummer, is actually a better singer. Ace Frehly may have been the one standout. Collectively, they do put on one impressive show. For KISS, it's always about the show, the spectacle of KISS. From the fire, the explosions, the makeup, the costumes, and all of the theatrics they are a great rock 'show'. I can now check them off my bucket-list.

Rock USA 2011 was a good time. I can only hope that the folks that put this show on make some necessary changes to make it better. They can begin with removing the front fenced-in VIP section and finding alternative methods for VIP sales. They say they are wanting to spend $2.5M on bands for next year's Rock USA. Time will only tell if they are successful and if I will attend.

Summerfest 2011 Superlatives

It's been a few days since Summerfest has ended. I figured I'd write up my final review of the World's Largest Music Festival, as I saw it, and award the Summerfest 2011 Superlatives. I'm continuing the superlatives trend from last year's Big Gig. I was told it was an entertaining read. My friend Mark said he was going to resurrect his blog and issue his rankings, which he has yet to do. Not sure I'll hear from anyone else that attended with me. Just like previous years, I always have a difficult time ranking all of the bands that I see. Each band offers something different. If you've been following along, you have read my recap from each day that I attended. If you haven't, feel free to go back and read them.

Let me first begin by giving another hearty Thank You to all of my friends, old and new, that enjoyed the Summerfest experience with me: Mark and Pam, Joe and Jaime, Chad and Anne, Dusty, Rick, Marissa, Zach, Nicki, Annie, and the Hansons - Hillary, Julie, and Rick. I apologize if I forgot to mention someone.

General Observations and Notes

• After running the gauntlet last year (attending all 11 days), I only went 10 days this year. Thus ending my consecutive streak of days attending Summerfest at 20.  Still, 10 days is still respectable. I partly blame the lackluster lineup as there really wasn't a band I wanted to see on the day I did not go. Either way, I'm okay with missing the one day. 
• I saw 37 bands this year.
• First time I have seen a show at the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage.
• The renovated South end of the Summerfest grounds, including the Briggs & Stratton stage, looks great.
• For years, when the Rock Stage finished, they would play Todd Rundgren's 'Bang the Drum'. This year, Todd Rundgren was there to sing it live, though not at the Rock Stage.
• 2011 was the year of the 'walk about'.
• Also the year for meeting bands (4).
• Only golfed once and it was way too hot.
• I really enjoyed the two new beers brewed especially for Summerfest - Let's Fest Ale (an amber ale) and Big Gig IPA.
• I got a new camera so pictures were much better this year.

If you want to read the 2010 Summerfest Superlatives, click here.

Without further ado, here are the 2011 Summerfest Superlatives:

BIGGEST DISASTER and BAND THAT PISSED ME OFF THE MOST

Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - In early 2009 at The Rave, they were downstairs where the acoustics are terrible. I gave them a pass. At Summerfest 2009, the lead singer had serious voice issues and barely completed six songs. I wanted to chalk that up to voice problems. This year, after two disappointments, they had a chance to redeem themselves. They had two years of touring and had finished recording a their 3rd album. Within the first six words of the first song, it was obviously apparent that these guys do not know how to perform. The singer cannot even sing in tune. It's almost as if the singer on stage is someone completely different than the person who sung on the cd. Not only could he not sing, but he spent way too much time talking in between songs, talking about himself like he had this huge ego. Bands that have been around less time put them to shame. I'll go out on a limb here and say that these guys were the worst live band I have seen out of all that I have seen as Summerfest. Terrible! 

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT(S)

Sevendust - This was the 5th or 6th time I've seen Sevendust over the last five years and this, in my opinion, was the worst performance of them all. While they usually always put on a great show, I felt they left something on the table. Their encore was only one song and they were done nearly 30 minutes before many of the other headliners had finished. I may have to pass on seeing them again.

SOiL - With three or four different singers in five years, this band lacked continuity and cohesiveness. They have some great songs and, at one time, had the potential to make a name for themselves. As it is, they were a 6pm band. Find a good singer and stick with him and maybe they'll be better in the future.

UTTERLY FORGETTABLE

Ocean Grove

Shinobi Ninja

Me Talk Pretty

Fools For Rowan

BUCKETLIST BANDS (SAW AND NEVER NEED TO SEE AGAIN)

BoDeans (Not sure they were even on my bucketlist)

Kansas

REO Speedwagon

Styx

BANDS THAT EVERYONE SHOULD SEE

Here Come the Mummies (2 years in a row!)

Flatfoot 56 - Irish punk band that opened for Rise Against

BANDS WITH MOST POTENTIAL

A Heroes Lie - Local Milwaukee band

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Middle Class Rut - Great sound from a two-man band

Hollywood Undead - Wasn't sure what to expect. Awesome!

BEST PERFORMANCE

Rise Against - They always bring it!

TOP 5

5. Saving Abel

4. Sick Puppies

3. Better Than Ezra

2. Hollywood Undead

1. Rise Against

BEST OF THE REST

10 Years

Flatfoot 56

Middle Class Rut

Crash Kings

Take another look at the pictures.

PARTING SHOTS

I'm already looking forward to next year. My brother may make an appearance. There will, however, be concerts between now and then. Stay tuned! Rock on!!

Summerfest 2011 - Another Year Over, Another One Just Begun

Yesterday was the last day of Summerfest 2011 and it was a great way to end it. I've been to the last day of Summerfest the last three years and this may have been the best final day of them all! Performing on this night were two of the three bands I most wanted to see going into this year's Fest, 10 Years and Hollywood Undead. Would they deliver? Hell yeah they did!

Upon arrival at the grounds, I was surprised to see that the Rock Stage was already more than half full and with a much younger crowd. I certainly wasn't sure what to expect. Hollywood Undead, if you aren't familiar with them, mix heavy metal and rap with strong lyrics into a fairly unique sound. Would they attract a more metal crowd? Or would they attract a more rap crowd? No to both questions. This band is obviously very popular with they late teens to twenties crowd. Not a lot of people drinking beer next to me that was for sure.

Caught the last few songs from Dirge Within, a growler band. A lot of heavy guitars and growling from these guys. Then 10 Years took the stage. I like this band a lot and I like them even more after seeing them live. Great sound! Great band! I recommend seeing them. After 10 Years, things got a little interesting at the Rock Stage. As a matter of fact, things got really interesting. When you have a crowd of young people waiting for a band, they sometimes get a little antsy, even a little rambunctious. One kid throws a water bottle from the front to the back of the bleachers. Another kid throws one back. Next thing you know, it all out chaos and I'm right in the middle of it. Awesome! Water bottles flying...plastic cups being tossed...soda...playing cards...crazy! The melee must have lasted about 40 minutes and ended just before Hollywood Undead took the stage. Like I explained previously, they have a unique blend of metal and rap and they came out and blew it up. Non stop action. They definitely knew how to get the crowd involved. I'm not sure how musically talented they are, but they certainly are awesome performers. Great end to another great Summerfest!

So another year over and another one just begun. 351 days until next year's Summerfest!  But there will certainly be concerts between now and then. In fact, I'm heading to Oshkosh, WI this weekend for Rock USA 2011. There I will see Kindred Soul, Road Trip, Dokken, Hollywood Undead, Korn, and KISS. Also planning on seeing Evans Blue in August.

Summerfest postings aren't quite done though. I'll write up one final review and award the 2011 Summerfest Superlatives.  Stay tuned...

Everybody Wants to Live, How They Wanna Live

One of the great things about Summerfest is that you can walk from stage to stage to stage and listen to a different band from a different genre. With 11 stages to choose from, there is always a live band to listen to. Last night was one of those nights that I went from stage to stage. I started with a walk around the grounds to get food and do some people watching, which is always awesome. I stopped at the M&I Classic Rock stage and listened to Bad Medicine, a Bon Jovi tribute band. A few songs from them and then off to the U.S. Cellular Connection stage to check out the Meat Puppets. I am only familiar with probably their most popular song, Backwater. A very eclectic band that has been around a while. Their songs range from country to folk to punk. Well, after Backwater, I headed over to the Rock Stage to see The Last Vegas. They were at Summerfest last year and I thought they were better on cd than live. They might have been a little more tolerable this time around. They are still a band that is stuck in the 80's though. They did a cover of Alice Cooper's School's Out.

While my friends settled in for Buckcherry, I went 'walk about'. I've seen Buckcherry twice before and I'm just not a fan. They guy's voice is annoying to me and their music is nothing special. I ended up stopping at The Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage and listened to the BoDeans, from Waukesha, WI. Obviously very popular as the stage was packed. They opened with Closer to Free, the theme song to Friends. After a few more songs, I moved over to the Harley Davidson Roadhouse stage to attempt to listen to The Flaming Lips. Whatever song they were playing was a bit too trippy. I didn't stick around to see if they would play She Don't Use Jelly. I walked over to the Miller Lite stage and listened to Dashboard Confessional. I'm not a big fan of this band either, but the few songs I heard were pretty good. When I walked up to the stage, they started playing Bryan Adams' Summer of 69. At least two more decent songs from them before they started playing their more melodramatic material. Time to move on. I ended up back over at the Briggs & Stratton stage to catch the BoDeans' last song, Good Things.

Six stages and six different bands. Another great night of music and fun. Today is the last day of Summerfest. It has been a fantastic week so far. Tonight I'm seeing 10 Years and Hollywood Undead. Should be a good night!

Another Night of Great Music at Summerfest

Last night made Day 8 for me at Summerfest and a great night of music it was! As soon as I arrived, I went over to the Rock Stage to catch The Heroes Lie. They are a Milwaukee, WI band that I had first seen at one of the Summerfest Headliner Release parties back in April. I thought they were good at a small bar and wanted to see how they performed on a larger stage. Larger venue usually means more amps and speakers and louder music. They were good and should be a band to watch in the future.

After a little walk to get some food and a couple Big Gig IPAs, I stopped at the U.S. Cellular Connection stage to check out Middle Class Rut. They have one album and their most popular song, New Low, has been playing on the radio. The music video for this song shows two guys walking down a lonely highway. What I hadn't realized was that there were only two guys in the band, a guitarist and a drummer. Wow! I was very impressed with the sound they generated. The drummer, who resembled a young Dennis Quaid, was really good. He was very energetic and played with passion. The only drawback to this band was the long intros to each song. But, I suppose if you only have one album, you need to fill up the time somehow. Certainly better than talking.  After they played New Low, I headed back over to the Rock Stage to see Sevendust.

Sevendust always puts on a great show. They kill it every time. This show, however, was a bit different than previous shows I've seen. They seemed to have left something on the table. When they came our for an encore, they only played one song and were done pretty early. Morgan, the drummer, is always great to watch. I think he is one of the absolute best metal drummers out there, hands down. The guy is amazing!

Well, since Sevendust finished early, I headed over to the Miller Lite stage where the Goo Goo Dolls were playing. Stage was packed and from way back I listened to them play Iris before heading back. Then as I was walking past the U.S. Cellular Connection stage, the Crash Kings started jamming a cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs.  Awesome!!  War Pigs was the theme song or war song for my high school football team my senior year. Great song! Great performance!

There are two days left of Summerfest 2011 and I'm going to both. Tonight may end up being another walkabout night. Whatever I decide to do and whichever band I see, Summerfest is always a great time!

Three Days Left...Three Tickets Remain

Now I'm starting to feel bad about not going to Summerfest last Tuesday. Especially since I'm going the remaining three days, making for a total of 10.  I'm chalking it up to a less than stellar lineup on Tuesday. Either way, 10 out of 11 is still pretty good.

Last night was a floater night. I floated from stage to stage catching several different bands. I started with Here Come the Mummies at 8pm. They were at Summerfest last year and were a lot of fun. They didn't disappoint this year either. All dressed up like mummies, they play a lot of fun songs that have adult undertones to the lyrics. Good time for sure. I didn't stay for the entire set. Instead I went over to the Rock Stage to catch a little bit of Pop Evil. I saw them a couple years ago at The Rave. They look and sound like a band lost from the 80's but maybe with a bit more of a modern metal edge. When I first walked up on the stage, the guitarist was in the middle of a long guitar solo, something you don't see often from bands nowadays. From there I went and caught the Division BMX Stunt Team. I know it's not a band, but these kids are amazing. My friends and I were into BMX trick riding and skateboarding when we were younger. Were weren't nearly as good as these kids though. Watching the show reminded me of when my friends and I used to watch and hang out with the Mountain Dew GT Trick team back in the 80's. I think we all aspired to be as good as these kids, but just didn't have it in us. Fun times for sure.

Moving on from the stunt team, I caught a few songs from Kansas, including Carry On Wayward Son. Bands like Kansas, Styx, and REO Speedwagon don't endure lengthy careers by being terrible performers. They all still put on great shows some 30 years later. After singing Carry On Wayward Son, I left to check out Michael Franti. Not necessarily my preferred type of music, but it was good. Stage was packed. Speaking of packed stages, the 102.1 stage was insanely packed with people wanting to see Edward Sharpe and teh Magnetic Zeros. I'm not even sure who they are.

I have added pictures from the last couple of days. Check out my earlier posts for the link.

Tonight is a flip of the coin night. Do I see Dropkick Murphys? Do I see Sevendust? Or do I see Middle Class Rut / Crash Kings?  Whichever I choose, I'm sure it will be yet another great night at Summerfest!

Maybe I'm A Dreamer

Maybe I'm misunderstood. Maybe you're not seeing, the side of me you should. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I'm the only one. Maybe I'm just out of touch. Maybe I've just had enough. Maybe it's time to change, and leave it all behind........Great lyrics from Sick Puppies.

Before I get to the recap of last night at Summerfest, let me first make an announcement...  THE STREAK IS OVER!!!  I had a personal streak of 20 consecutive days at Summerfest that began in 2009. This news is bittersweet. It was really weird not going on Tuesday. I felt like I should have been there. Nearly got the shakes. So a new streak began last night. Summerfest is apparently my drug of choice and I need my fix.

I was back at Summerfest last night. The day/night began with a stop over at the M&I Classic Rock stage to briefly check out Billy Bon Scott, an AC/DC tribute band. While they may have sounded like AC/DC, they certainly didn't look like them. Headed over to the Rock Stage where Sick Puppies were signing autographs. We got their signatures and met them. We were fortunate to get the band to take a picture with us. We wished them well and shook their hands. Well, all except Emma, the bass player. She is obviously a germaphobe. She didn't want to shake anyone's hands and barely touched fists, similar to Howie Mandel. She's still Hot!!  At the Rock Stage, SOiL was playing. This is the 4th time I've seen them and the 3rd or 4th different singer. According to Wikipedia, the current singer, Jordan, is listed as a former member and it also says that the original singer Ryan McCombs (Who left the band to join Drowning Pool) was rejoining SOiL. Even if that were true, I'm not sure that's a wise move on his part.  After their set, I met the band and had pictures taken with them. SOiL isn't a bad band. In fact, I like many of their songs. I just don't know how successful they will be if they keep changing singers. As much as the drummer is the heartbeat of a band, a singer gives the band an identity. When you change singers, you often lose continuity and momentum. Journey is a good example. They still tour as Journey, but I don't think they are the same band without Steve Perry. I would say the same thing about Van Halen, which was a different band with David Lee Roth then they were with Sammy Hagar. Fortunately in that scenario, both of those versions of Van Halen were successful. Back to last night...

Went over to the U.S. Cellular Connection stage and sat through a few songs from Fools for Rowan. Walked around some more and again stopped at the U.S. Cellular Connection stage for a few songs from The Lifeline. Nothing special from these two bands, but thought I would mention them.

Finally made our way back over to the Rock Stage and sat down for Me Talk Pretty. They had a female singer. She was from Romania and had a sexy little accent. I met her afterwards.  The band wasn't anything special, though she did have a good voice. Then the Sick Puppies took the stage and proceed to rock our faces off. From beginning to the end, an absolutely fantastic show. They played quite a few songs from their first couple of albums as well as several from their newest album. They even threw in a cover of Cee Lo Green. Awesome! Oh man, Emma can definitely rock the bass!! She's amazing...and did I mention she was hot?!  She plucks the strings with her fingers rather than with a pick. Makes me wonder how many bass players use a pick or not. I'll have to pay attention to that from now on.

Four more days of Summerfest. I'm still not sure I'll go tonight. The lineups this year are definitely not as good as previous years. I was spoiled in 2010 when there was at least one band I wanted to see every night. Most of the bands tonight are ones that I've already seen before or just not interested in. Possibilities include Here Come the Mummies (saw them last year...lot of fun), Pop Evil (not impressed), or Finger Eleven (messed up their own songs a couple years ago).  We'll see what happens.  Rock on!

We Live On Front Porches and Swing Life Away

No foreplay today...no prelude... Rise Against is one of the absolute best live bands I have seen in a long time!! They continually deliver a no frills, powerful performance every time!! Absolutely amazing!!! They get on stage and punch you right in the face!! Awesome!!!

Now that that is out of the way, here's what the rest of Day 5 was like...

We headed down early mainly because I wanted to be sure we had decent seats for Rise Against. It's a good thing we did too. The stage filled up fast. Before finding a seat, we stopped at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino Stage and Pavillion and caught a little bit from Berlin. Sure, you know who she is. She's the one who sings that song made famous from the movie Top Gun..."Take My Breath Away". Well, I didn't stick around to hear her sing it, but my friends did. After arriving at the Miller Lite stage, a girl singing group called Pretty Pretty performed. They were somewhat scantily clad and sung covers of pop songs. After them was a group called Shinobi Ninja. Terrible. At first it was just a dj on stage. Then he was joined by a couple of guitarists, a black female rapper, and a white rapper. It was a crazy mix of metal guitars and rap lyrics with funky beats.

At 8pm, Flatfoot 56 took the stage. These guys were a lot of fun. Great Irish punk band complete with bagpipes. I really enjoyed their energy and music. If you like Irish punk bands, check these guys out.

I've already mentioned the night's headliner, Rise Against...but they are most certainly worth mentioning again!!  Amazing band!!!

Summerfest is closed on July 4th but will reopen on the 5th. My attendance is still up in the air at this point.

Oh yeah, I believe I mentioned that I would share pictures.

Happy Independence Day!!

The Best Is Yet To Come

Yesterday's Summerfest schedule wasn't anything special. I nearly didn't go down, but since a couple friends came into town, we went. Some of the bands performing last night were Maroon 5, The Airborne Toxic Event, and Hinder. We walked around the grounds for a bit of people watching and enjoying some of the fine frothy beverages. The Miller Lite stage where Maroon 5 was to play was already packed. Apparently they were the most popular act playing last night. We made our way around to the Rock Stage and watched Greek Fire. I've only heard one of their songs on the radio recently and liked it. They were good and I would see them again. May have to look into picking up their album.

After Greek Fire finished, we stopped at the Cascio Interstate Music Groove Stage. This is a smaller stage settled in between the Rock Stage and the U.S. Cellular Connection Stage that showcases a lot of local and regional bands. We watched a band called The Invaders. They were kind of an Irish punk band with a sound similar to Rancid. I think the crowd at this small stage was bigger than the crowd for Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. 

We moved back over to the Rock Stage and stood in the back for Hinder. I'm not a huge fan of Hinder, but they sure put on a good show. The differences in performances between a band like Hinder and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are like night and day. I hate to keep harping on RJA, but they really were terrible and need to polish their live performances significantly. We eventually made our way into the back of the bleacher section probably about 10 rows in as people started to leave even before they came out for their encore, Get Stoned. Even though I'm not a huge fan, it was a good rock show. It was also unusual that I nearly got a drum stick all the way in the back. The drummer really chucked it. 

I've debated on when I was going to post pictures. Maybe tomorrow I'll share pictures from the first weekend. Stay tuned.

Today is one of the Summerfest days I have been looking forward to most...Rise Against! They are such a great band and always an awesome live show! 

New Songs and Some Old Songs Too

Day 3 at Summerfest turned out to be less than stellar. I had a feeling going in that the band we wanted to see wasn't going to improve on past performances and I was right. Down at the grounds about 5:30ish and headed over to the Miller Lite stage. There at 6pm was a pop cover band called Your Villain, My Hero. Saw them last year as we waited for The Offspring. The cover pop songs from Ke$ha, Katy Perry, Madonna, the Black Eyed Peas and many other. Very entertaining and probably the best performance of the night. Of course it doesn't hurt that they have two hot women, one singing and one on bass guitar. Very nice!

After their set ended, we headed over to the Rock Stage for Civil Twilight. Saw them last year and enjoyed their set. Another great show last night. Their most popular song is one that was featured in the tv show One Tree Hill. Those of you that watch the show (I don't) may know what I'm talking about. The stage was about half empty and thought it was a bit strange, but looking back on the night it was more likely a foreshadowing.

The headliner for the Rock Stage was The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Now here is a band whose albums are really good, but their live performances have been disappointing to say the least. I saw them twice in 2009, once at The Rave downstairs and once at Summerfest. The downstairs stage at The Rave is small and the acoustics aren't great so at that time I chalked up the lackluster performance to that. At Summerfest 2009, the stage was jam packed. We quickly realized that most of the people were there to see Owl City and Relient K. It was quite obvious that the lead singer had voice problems. They maybe played six songs and were off the stage by 11pm. It was sad.  So this year, we decided to give them one more shot. Again, I really like their albums.  They take the stage and it didn't take long to realize that this guy is terrible. I'm not going to say the whole band is terrible, but they really need to find a new singer. Makes me wonder how authentic his voice is on the albums. He has no idea how to perform and they had no business being scheduled as a headliner. Civil Twilight should have been the headliner. Way too much talking in between songs. At one point, he mentioned that they had a guest guitarist, some 17 year old kid who loved RJA and wanted to play with them. The kids was pretty good, but that they should have been doing was auditioning for new singers. Probably could have picked someone out of the crowd. As it is, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus have been put into the same category as 12 Stones...really good cd quality bands but absolutely terrible live.

So after being bored through four or five songs, we decided to leave and head over to another stage. Attempting to walk by the Miller Lite stage, we realized why the Rock Stage was empty. Everyone was watching Girl Talk. Even the Harley-Davidson stage was packed for Los Lonely Boys. Third Eye Blind was playing at the new Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage, but we were heading over to the M&I Classic Rock stage to check out Styx. That stage was jam packed too. I don't think we could have gotten withing 500 yards of the stage. Caught the last few songs of their set including Miss America and Come Sail Away.

A lackluster night at Summerfest, but always a fun time. People watching is fantastic. Live music is always awesome! Tonight I'm most likely heading back down to Summerfest.  This will be Day 4 for me and Summerfest has only been open for four days. My streak of consecutive days at Summerfest goes back to 2009 and stands at 18. My friends are trying to entice me into going to all eleven days again this year. I'm not 100% certain that is going to happen, though I won't rule it out just yet. Options for tonight include Maroon 5 and Hinder. I guess I'll find out when I get there.  Rock on!

Riding the Storm Out

As I mentioned yesterday, there wasn't a band that I definitely wanted to see last night, so I saw a few of them. Normally I show up and hang out at one stage, but last night I spent time at a few.  Once there, I walked down to the newly renovated Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage at the South end of the grounds. It's really nice. This area is also where they are serving the new Summerfest beer, Big Gig IPA, which is brewed by Tenth and Black Beer Company, a division of MillerCoors focused on craft and imports. Very good!  Made my way over to Jo Jo's Martini Lounge for a tasty martini. Have to visit Jo Jo's at least once every Summerfest. I then headed over to catch some of Neon Trees. The stage was packed, but that was expected. I saw them last year anyways. After a few songs, I made my way over to the M&I Classic Rock Stage to catch some of REO Speedwagon's set. They may be getting up there in age, but they still sing and play really well. Heard a few of the favorites including Keep On Loving You and You Can't Fight This Feeling. After just a few songs from REO, I went to the Miller Lite stage to catch Better Then Ezra. Saw them two years ago. They were good then and they were good last night. They really put on a fantastic performance! Very entertaining! Their drummer is amazing!! During one of their songs they slipped into a cover of Kanye West, who was performing last night also. Another great night!


This morning we went golfing. We normally get out there at least once during Summerfest. I'm not so sure it was the best idea though. There was a heat advisory and if it weren't for the breezy conditions it may have affected us more. As it was, the golf wasn't that great, but we had a great time.


Tonight is Day 3. On the schedule to see tonight is The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. They were at Summerfest last year and didn't even finish their set because the lead singer had voice problems. So I'm giving them one more chance. I really like their music, but their live performances leave something to be desired. If they bomb, then I may skip over to see Anberlin, Styx, or one of the other stages.

Summerfest 2011 Day 1 In the Books

What a great beginning to Summerfest 2011! It was a little different this year as Summerfest started on a Wednesday rather than the usual Thursday beginning. That was due to the decision to close down the World's Largest Music Festival on July 4. I arrived at the festival grounds about 5:30. Grabbed a bite to eat and headed over to the Rock Stage, which is just inside the North gate that we entered from. I didn't walk over to the newly remodeled South side of the grounds with the new Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage. Maybe that will be today.

First band up was Oceans Grove at 6:30. Now many of these earlier bands are up and comers, regional or local bands trying to make a name for themselves. This band fell into that category for sure. Not very memorable. They had more of a bluesy rock, Dave Matthews type sound. They even played a cover of a Frankie Vallie song.

The second band was Of Verona. I wasn't familiar with this band either, but apparently they are one of MTV's Bands to Watch. From appearances they looked like the children of the members of the Flock of Seagulls with a good looking female singer. When they first took the stage for warm ups, I thought she was Avril Lavigne...or her twin. Most of the time I'm leery of female rock singers as not many can pull it off, but she had an amazing voice. The band's music was a little trippy with keyboards and light on the guitars. For a newer band they were pretty decent. After the show I went over to meet the band and had my picture taken with the singer. 

Every year there are fireworks on opening day. Right around 9pm, the fireworks started. I had heard that they were supposed to be bigger than previous years. They were slow and unspectacular in the beginning, but the grand finale was one of the better one's I have seen in a long time. Grand finale ended with a couple minutes of rapid fire explosions. Pretty cool.

Headlining opening night was Saving Abel. They are a great band. I first discovered them at Summerfest in 2008. They had one album out and were a 7pm act. Now with two albums out they were headlining. The difference two albums and two years of touring was noticeable. They were definitely a more polished band. Excellent show playing a good mix of songs from both albums. They opened up with Tap Out, Bloody Sunday, and Hell of a Ride before rolling into New Tattoo and Stupid Girl. They rocked a couple more songs before bringing out the acoustic guitars to jam The Sex is Good and threw in a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man and CCR's Have You Ever Seen the Rain?. Finished up the set with 18 Days and probably their most popular song, Addicted.  Great show!

Great start to Summerfest 2011! Tonight will be a bit different. There wasn't any one headliner that I really wanted to see, so I'll probably just float around. Notable options for me are Better Than Ezra (saw them at Summerfest 2009), REO Speedwagon for some retro 80's music, Neon Trees (saw them last year), or Panic! at the Disco. So it remains to be seen which stage I end up at tonight. Maybe more than one?

Let's Fest!!!

It's finally here!!  Today is opening day of Summerfest 2011!! This year is a bit different in that Summerfest is opening up on a Wednesday, but that is because they decided to close for the 4th of July.  Weird but certainly no big deal.

Looking forward to the music, the beer, and hanging with thousands of my closest friends!  Hahaha

Tonight I'll be seeing Saving Abel at the Summerfest Rock Stage. Most likely catch a couple of the bands that are on before them, Ocean Grove and Of Verona. Not familiar with them, but I'll give them a listen.

Yeah Buddy!!! Summerfest is here!!!  Rock on!!!!

Summer...Summerfest...Summer Fun!!

June 21st, the first day of Summer 2011. Weather-wise it certainly hasn't felt like Summer. Nearly six months have passed and we've barely had one full week that did not include chilly temps or rain. This past weekend was nice. It was in the 70s and sunny. Today we had some pretty nasty thunderstorms and lightning. But it is finally Summer! Lots of fun and great times to be had this year!

This past Saturday, I went on a secret bar tour, the Atomic DJ Secret Bar Tour. What a great time! Sixty plus people, one bus, 7 bars, drink specials at each location, and a whole lot of shenanigans. Went with several friends and made several more. What makes it secret is the fact that we didn't know where we were going until just before getting on the bus. The seven bars included: a 130 year old tavern where one of the original bartenders was buried in the basement; a strip club; a saloon that the Capone brothers used to hide out in; and a couple other establishments. I have intentions of going on future tours, including the one in August which happens to fall the day after my birthday.

This coming weekend I'm thinking about going to the Milwaukee Firkin Craft Beer Festival. Should be no surprise to most that I am a craft beer enthusiast. It's from 3 to 7pm and will have over 90 beers to sample. We'll see how that turns out if I decide to go.

Summer in Milwaukee also means the beginning of festival season. There's Polish Fest, German Fest, Bastille Days, Festa Italiana, Summer Soulstice, Irish Fest, and my favorite of all of them...Summerfest. I've been going to Summerfest every year for the last several years. Last year I wrote about 'running the gauntlet'...attending all 11 days of Summerfest. I absolutely love it! Live music! Great food! Tasty beverages! And thousands of my closest friends. Okay, maybe they aren't all really close friends. Summerfest begins in eight days on June 29th. There are a couple things different about this year. One is that Summerfest is closed on July 4th. Odd, but I'm okay with it. The second thing is that, as of right now, I may only go six days this year. The lineups are spectacular. Last year was something special apparently because there was a band I wanted to see every day. I believe this year is the year for the early bands as the headliners aren't that appealing. I've discovered some really awesome young bands at some of the earlier time slots, such as Saving Abel, Anew Revolution, and Egypt Central a few years ago. In 2011, Saving Abel is headlining the opening day at one of the stages. Other bands I plan on seeing are Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (giving them a shot at redemption from their complete failure last year), Rise Against, Sick Puppies, Dropkick Murphys, 10 Years, and Hollywood Undead to name a few.  I'll be writing about the bands that I see so stay tuned.

I am looking forward to what the 2011 Summer has in store for me. It's shaping up to be a really good year so far.

The Gift of Music

Coming off a fantastic weekend...a long weekend due to the Memorial Day observance. Let me begin this post by paying my respects to all of my fellow men and women in uniform. To all that have gone before me...To all that serve today...and just as importantly, To their families who tirelessly support them...THANK YOU!!! The United States' Armed Forces is the world's largest all-voluntary military in the world. We selflessly make sacrifices so that our families and our country can remain a peaceful, strong, and free nation! I have the utmost respect for all of you!

This Memorial Day weekend was fantastic! We finally had decent weather here in Wisconsin as its been cold and rainy for the last few weeks. Saturday I went out and had drinks with some friends. Kind of last minute, thrown-together plans, but turned out to be a really great night. Good drinks...great company!

For the next few months, Sully Erna, lead singer of Godsmack, is doing a special tour. For each city visited during this tour, Godsmack plays one night and then Sully Erna performs his solo album, Avalon, the second night. I saw Godsmack last year, so I only bought a ticket for Avalon. Turned out a couple of friends had an extra ticket to Godsmack, so I jumped on it of course. Godsmack played on Sunday, May 29. I found humor in the stage setup. Godsmack had most of the stage curtained off, leaving about the front 6 feet of the stage for the opening bands. I thought that was funny. The first band was Losing Scarlet. I saw them back on April 8 when they opened for Egypt Central and Cold. Oh, I guess I never wrote about that show...hmmm...

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Here's a quick down and dirty on the April 8, 2011 show with Cold and Egypt Central. Had free tickets to this show and decided to go at last minute, mainly to see Egypt Central, who I was a fan of. Five bands this night...Losing Scarlet, Oceans Divide, Kopek, Egypt Central, and Cold.

Losing Scarlet was decent. Odd grouping of musicians. Big burly, mohawked black guy on lead guitar. Big goth-looking female bass player, a small white guy with goatee on drums, and a pretty hot female lead singer.

Oceans Divide weren't anything special. Lead singer reminded me a little of Glenn Danzig. There were ok. Obviously I don't remember much about them.

Kopek was the surprise of the night. I really liked their set and look forward to seeing them again. Met the lead singer after the show (see pics).

Egypt Central was great as expected. Played a few songs from their new album, which released today (yeah, I bought it). Met the lead singer afterwards as well.

Cold was nothing special to me. They had been out of the music scene for about seven years before making a new album. To be honest, I wasn't really familiar with them and they didn't do anything for me.

Here are the pics from the Cold/Egypt Central/Kopek/Oceans Divide/Losing Scarlet show.

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Back to Memorial Day...

So I saw Losing Scarlet back in April in a smaller setting. They were better then. The lead singer's voice echoed throughout the Eagles Ballroom and overpowered the band. The second band was No Conviction. They were terrible. Singer was a growler and you couldn't understand anything he was saying. No pictures of these two bands.

Headlining the evening was Godsmack. I love Godsmack! They rock! Saw them last year at Band Camp 2010 in Madison, WI. This show was a bit different. It was more of a normal Godsmack show. No drum battle. Just a straight up rock show, but they were awesome. Setlist included many of their hits like Awake, Bad Religion, Keep Away, and Voodoo. Also played several from their newest album such as Forever Shamed, War and Peace, Cryin' Like a Bitch, and one of my personal favorites, Love Hate Sex Pain. Check out my pics of Godsmack.

Monday was Sully Erna's solo show. He has a solo album out called Avalon. Let me tell you that I think this album is nothing short of AMAZING! Ever since I got it, I've listened to it nearly once a day. The musical instrumentation, lyrics, and vocals on this album surely showcase Sully Erna's outstanding musical talent. He was on stage with some world class musicians and the show was amazing and powerful! By far the best show I've seen this year...so far. So very glad that I went.  Here are pics from Avalon.

What could have been a quiet and solemn weekend turned out to be a great time and a gift of music I will soon not forget!

Now that was a weekend!!

Now this has been the BEST weekend of 2011 so far. Amazingly great times and memorable moments! Going into this weekend, I knew what events were on the schedule. What I didn't know was how awesome they would play out. On the weekend's schedule: my brother visits from CT, Disturbed concert at The Rave, my graduation ceremony.

My brother flew in for the weekend to celebrate my graduation from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. I picked him up at the airport on Friday night. Went to Mo's Irish Pub down the street to have a few beers and shoot the breeze. Now, whenever my brother and I get together, which isn't that often as he lives in CT and I'm in WI, we always have a great time. Never used to be that way, but now we know how to have a good time. I introduced my brother to some of Wisconsin's finest craft beer and he enjoyed them. I think he likes New Glarus' Spotted Cow the best so far. Anyways, we closed Mo's.

Saturday was a chill day. I showed him some more of Milwaukee as the last time he was here it was snowing. Took pictures with the statue of the Fonz and had a few beers. As the afternoon rolled into evening, we went to meet a couple of friends for dinner. On the way, my brother noticed the Coyote Ugly Saloon and said we must stop in. There was maybe a dozen people in there. We played a drinking game. The first challenge was to write down with chalk on the bar as many dirty words as you can think of in like 60 seconds. There was a four-way tie and I was one of the four. Should I be embarrassed about this? Nahhh. The tie breaker was a stick figure sex position challenge in which I had to draw as many sex positions as I could in 60 seconds. Well, I won hands down. Now, if I shouldn't be embarrassed about the dirty word challenge, what about this one? Hahahaha.

We had dinner and then headed to The Rave to see Disturbed in concert. Wow! What a hell of a show! Amazing performance from beginning to end! The first band was Art of Dying. I've only heard a couple of their songs, which I liked, so I was looking forward to them. Solid band. Great vocals. After them, Nonpoint took the stage. I've seen Nonpoint before at Summerfest 2008. I remember they played at 6:30 and thinking they should have been an 8:00pm show. Nonpoint may never be the type of band that will headline big shows, but they certainly now how to deliver an energetic show. They finished with what is probably their biggest hit, Bullet With A Name On It. The night's headliner was Disturbed. I had never seen them before, having missed previous opportunities to see them live. All I have to say is AMAZING! Kicked a$$!!! I was blown away by their sound. Definitely glad I didn't miss them this time.  Check out pictures.

After the concert, we went back downtown. My brother wanted to experience Coyote Ugly when it was in full gear. I wasn't that impressed. Aside from all the hot ladies in there, it really didn't do much for me. Not necessarily my kind of club to hang out in. Check that one off the bucket list...done.

Back home at about 3AM again and we had to get up early. Sunday morning was my graduation ceremony. After eight long years of juggling work, school, and some semblance of a social life, I earned my degree, Bachelor of Science in Information Systems and Technology. You are never too old to learn. Feels so great to finally have finished. It's really only just starting to sink in.  Now to make this shiny new degree work for me.

If this weekend is just a sign of what else is to come in 2011, it's going to be one hell of great year!

Winter rolls into extended Winter which rolls into...Where the hell is Spring?

Not a lot has happened since my last entry. The Wisconsin weather has been unfair so far in 2011. It's May and we may have hit 60 degrees three times, if we are lucky. On top of that, it's been raining all the time. April showers spilled over into May. I'm not complaining though as it could be worse. In a way I'm glad it's been cold and rainy because I have an injured foot. An injured foot means I can't golf or run. When the weather is nice, that's a difficult pill to swallow. My foot is getting better and hope to be on a golf course and back running within a couple weeks. Which is good, because I'm scheduled to run Summerfest's Rock n' Sole 10K and I need to get in some training for that. I'm not worried. I'm looking forward to that challenge.

I'm sure I mentioned that this was my last semester at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Yeah buddy! Just finished with my last class and I'll be walking across the stage to accept my diploma in just over a week. So, so elated to be finished with my degree! It's been a long eight years.

Let's see, what else has been going on?  I've been really focused on school. I've also taken some time out to have a little fun. I saw a couple of concerts. Back on April 23, I saw Chris Cornell perform an acoustic show at the Pabst Theater. That was a great show. Chris played a variety of songs from Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog, and his solo stuff. He threw in some covers too...Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, Led Zeppelin's Thank You, The Beatles' Ticket to Ride, and finishing with John Lennon's Imagine. A very powerful performance. Check out some pictures of Chris on stage.

Summerfest has released their stage headliners for each of the 11 days. I'm not overwhelmed with the bands that have been booked. As it is, I may go every other day.  We'll see if that holds true once they release the rest of the lineups. This may very well be a year for the early bands. I am excited to see Rise Against, 10 Years, and Hollywood Undead.  Stay tuned for more on Summerfest 2011.

Next weekend, my brother comes to Milwaukee to attend my graduation. Going to be great to see him and hang out. We'll be hitting The Rave to see Disturbed. We are going to have a great time!

Just what was needed

It's hard to believe that last night was my first concert of 2011.  Feel like I'm slacking a bit, but it was just what was needed to give this year a little kick start. There is absolutely nothing better than watching a great live rock show! Get's the adrenaline and the blood flowing. Clears the mind and let's you escape reality for a few hours. It's good to stretch the rock legs and get ready for another year full of music.

Opening band last night was My Darkest Days. I wasn't too familiar with them, only really knowing their song 'Pornstar Dancing'. I wasn't overly impressed with them, but it was a decent show. Seemed a bit gimmicky as each of the band members had a certain stage move they liked to perform after each song. I did think the band's wardrobe covered a wide spectrum. Drummer was in typical muscle shirt and jeans. Keyboardist looked like he was straight out of the Cure with dark eye makeup and a scarf. The lead singer and the bass player both wore jackets and button down shirts with the bass player adding a hat. Then there was the lead guitarist, shirtless with the skin tight snakeskin-patterned pants and a foot-high multi-colored mo hawk a la The Exploited. The band members looked like they were all thrown together from various other bands. Interesting.

Headlining was Three Days Grace. This is my third time seeing them and this might be the best show yet. I was close for the opener, but as soon as the push started, was right even closer to the stage. Was more of a push than a mosh, though small mosh pits broke out here and there. No, I didn't get in the pits, but it is fun to push drunken fools into them. On to the show... Three Days Grace delivered! Opened with 'Burn' and rolled right into many of their other favorites...'Break', 'The Good Life', 'Pain', 'Get Out Alive', and 'I Hate Everything About You'. Then played 'Home' and after jamming that song for a bit, they slipped right into a cover of Eminem's 'Lose Yourself'. Sweet!  Couple songs later, they brought out one of the roadies/tour managers and did a cover of Limp Bizkit's 'Break Stuff'.  TDG rounded out the night with a drum solo and a few other tunes, finishing with 'Riot'.  Excellent show!!  Check out the pictures.

It doesn't matter if it's a local band like the 5 Card Studs at Cafe Lu Lu or a more polished act like Three Days Grace, I love a good show! Shows on tap...I am going to see Chris Cornell perform an acoustic show later this month; and I'm seeing Disturbed in May with the possibility of a few other shows sprinkled in between now and Summerfest 2011.  Rock on!

It's going to be a great year!

In the words of Rock N Roll Legend Joe Walsh...

Lucky I'm sane after all I've been through
(Everybody sing) I'm cool (He's cool)

I can't complain but sometimes I still do

Life's been good to me so far

2010 was a really good year for me. Chock full of good times and great memories. I've seen a slew of concerts, starting the year with Bullet For My Valentine. In June there was the first ever Verge Music Festival, a new alternative two-day music festival. Among the bands I saw there were Crash Kings, Eagles of Death Metal, AFI, Three Days Grace, and Weezer. Just a few weeks later I did what many of my friends said couldn't be done and attended all 11 days of Summerfest - 311, Skillet, Scorpions, Hawthorne Heights, Chevelle, Red, Silversun Pickups, and many, many more. What a great time that was! WJJO Band Camp (an all-day metal show people!) in August and several other concerts. If you've been following this blog, I've written about these events and shared my experiences. In July, I attended my 20-year high school reunion and had a fantastic time. Daniel Tosh show in November. Brewery tours. Wii Rock Band parties. 

I finished the year strong with a trip to Boston to visit a good friend. We took in the Patriots vs. Packers football game and drank lots of beer, but that's nothing new. Then I drove down to CT to spend the holidays with my family. It wasn't all smiles and laughter as my grandfather passed away the week before Christmas, but we made the most of it. Back in WI, New Year's Eve was a great time.  Spent the evening with friends and made some new ones. We drank and danced our way into the new year.

So far a lot of good things have happened in 2011. I started my final class in pursuit of my Bachelor's degree. I'm very excited about finally finishing! I found out some great news regarding my WI state veterans eduction benefits. I, along with a few friends, went on the inaugural Milwaukee 2 Madison Beer Run, a bus tour from Milwaukee to Madison with stops at three WI breweries. There was the Church Pub Crawl. Yes...churches and beer...but it's better than it sounds. We toured churches, which were very educational as well as historical, and stopped at pubs in between. The jury is still out, but I might be coming off of the best weekend of the year. More about that another time. 

It was during my trip to CT that my brother and I proclaimed that 2011 was going to be a great year for the both of us. It's certainly off to a great start!  So what's up next? Not sure, but I'm definitely looking forward to a great year!