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!