Milestone achieved

I just turned 40 yesterday (August 26th). It's definitely a significant birthday, but not for negative reasons. They say 40 is the new 30 and I am inclined to believe it. I'm a firm believer that you are only as old as you feel. Most often I feel like I am 5 to 10 years younger than I really am. I do my best to eat healthy and stay active. I surround myself with good people and fill my life with various activities. Though it's only been a day or two, life at 40 is great!

I celebrated by birthday on Saturday and, let me tell you, it was a fantastic day! Nearly 20 of my friends joined me on a riverwalk boat brewery tour. We started out at one restaurant, Molly Cools, and got on a boat that took us to two breweries (Milwaukee Ale House and Rock Bottom) before returning to Molly Cools for dinner. The tour included two drinks at each location. Rock Bottom had their basement tasting room set up with a bunch of drinking games such as bags, beer pong, flippy cup, and giant jenga. I played giant jenga, but lost. We all had such a great time.

Life is great and it will continue to get better. I am truly blessed to have so many great friends and family in my life. I want them to know how much they mean to me and how much I value them. I've always been told to treat people just as you would want to be treated and I live by that rule. This weekend I felt honored that so many of my friends joined me to celebrate my milestone birthday and we had an absolutely fantastic time!

Thank you!!

It's a Trapt!

I saw another great concert last Friday...Trapt at the Brat Stop. It was the pre-party for WIIL Rock Fest (which I didn't go to). I went to last year's pre-party as well and saw Pop Evil and Evans Blue. At that time, Evans Blue was a band that I had been waiting to see for a few years and they finally came around. I've been wanting to see Trapt in concert for several years now as well and I finally saw them. It was a fantastic show!

The two bands performing before Trapt were The Dreaming and Royal Bliss. The Dreaming was an interesting band and surprisingly had decent following. It became clear once I learned that the lead singer and the drummer were original members of the band Stabbing Westward. Nearly half of their setlist contained Stabbing Westward songs, including this one that you might remember...

I wasn't familiar with Royal Bliss at all. They apparently tour the Southeastern Wisconsin scene a lot. Royal Bliss are a modern rock band with some good, heavy, rock and roll sound. Though I was uncertain in the beginning, I thought they rocked.

The headliner this night, and the sole reason for attending this show, was Trapt. Trapt are from California and  have had numerous hits from their four studio albums including Echo, Stand Up, and the one everyone knows, Headstrong. They also played Still Frame, End Of My Rope, Contagious, and three songs from their new album due out in November. Here are some pics.  It was a great show! I look forward to seeing them again!

Summer isn't over yet

It's been quite a busy Summer this year so far. There have been activities and fun times just about every week so far - Beer sessions and tastings at Sugar Maple, special firkin tappings at Stubby's, golf, beach volleyball, Lakefront Festival of the Arts, concerts, Summerfest, beer festivals, and much, much more. The weather has been fantastic. Sure we had the several days in July where the temperatures hit over 100 degrees, but I'll take that over sub-zero temps any day. 

A couple weeks ago, I went to the Milwaukee Firkin Craft Beer Festival and had a great time. This festival is geared toward highlighting some of the finest breweries and brewpubs that Milwaukee and Wisconsin have to offer - Milwaukee Brewing Co., Lakefront, Ale Asylum, Tyranena, Central Waters, and Big Bay, to name a few. Other breweries from around the country that were also on hand to share their beer with the attendees included Lagunitas (Petaluma, CA), Bell's (Kalamazoo, MI), Founders (Grand Rapids, MI), Sixpoint (Brooklyn, NY), Left Hand (Longmont, CO), and Oskar Blues (Longmont, CO). A couple great things about beer festivals like this one are that you are surrounded by other people who truly enjoy good beer and the breweries use these opportunities to experiment with new styles or flavors. They brew smaller batches, put them in firkins, and allow consumers to taste them. They do this to see if this new one-off brew is a hit with consumers. If it is then sometimes they decide to brew it in a larger batch for distribution. Tasting these one of a kind beers is what I enjoy doing. Wait...what's a firkin you ask?  A firkin is actually an old English term that refers to a small wooden keg, though they aren't wooden anymore. It's much smaller than a quarter barrel. Breweries use firkins for the special beers that I've mentioned. SO, my favorite firkin at the Milwaukee Firkin Craft Beer Festival was a beer that isn't even for sale. It was called Jazz Hands and was brewed by Brouwerij Von Hotcrackers. Jazz Hands is a braggot style. A braggot is a centuries old recipe that is made by blending spices and herbs with mead and beer. Let me tell you it was fantastic!

The calendar just flipped to August and that means the Summer is not quite over yet. August is also the month of my birthday. This year is a milestone as I turn 40. I'm hoping to make this a very fun and special birthday month. Not all fun though...I've got the obligatory 40-year physical this week. I'm not worried about that as I do my best to exercise and eat healthy.  Coming up I'm seeing Trapt  on Friday, August 10 and running the Friends of the Hank Aaron State Trail 5k the following morning. Suppose I should take it easy on the beer the night before. The following week friends and I are running in the Warrior Dash for the second year in a row. Such a great time. I'm looking forward to attacking the obstacles and throwing the axes. The very next week is my birthday weekend and it should be a great time. My plan is to get as many of my friends as I could to go on the Riverwalk Boat Pub Tour on Saturday, August 25. It's a fun boat tour that starts at a bar, then you travel by boat along the Milwaukee River to two other breweries and finally back to the originating destination, where I hope that we'll be able to stay and have dinner. To be honest, the only sure thing so far is the boat tour. Maybe brunch on Sunday, which is my actual birthday. Sunday afternoon is another beer school session at Sugar Maple. Should be a great weekend. Stay tuned!

In other news, all the while that these fun and games have been going on, I have been house hunting. I started a couple months ago and have been taking my time trying to find the right place. I've been living in WI for 12 years now and figured it was about time I settle in and plant some roots. I really do love Wisconsin and the Milwaukee area.  I can, and will, still visit my homeland back in Connecticut. Maybe now friends will come visit me. 

Summerfest 2012 Superlatives

Another Summerfest is in the books. Summerfest 2012 was a definite success and it's time for me to announce my Summerfest 2012 Superlatives. This will be the third year that I do this. If you're interested, check out the Summerfest 2010 Superlatives and the Summerfest 2011 Superlatives. They are good reads. It's fun to go back and see what I thought back then.  The superlatives are my own way of reviewing Summerfest and ranking all of the bands that I saw. I see each band differently and feel I enjoy bands from different genres in different ways. That's why it is difficult for me to just list them out.

Just as in previous years, I'd like to give a big Thank You to all of my friends, old and new, and family, who enjoyed this Summerfest experience with me: my brother Dennis making his first ever appearance, Mark and Pam, Joe and Jaime, Chad and Anne, Chad's brother Todd, Dusty and his new 'girlfriend' Kelly, Rick and Lori, Zach, Marc, Spiro, Nicki, Evelyn, Julie, and the Hansons - I know Hanson played the Potawatomi stage, but I'm talking about my Hanson family friends Hillary, Alicia, Julie, and Charles. Again, if I missed anyone, please accept this Thanks and my apologies.

Without further ado...

General Observations and Notes

• My brother Dennis made his first ever appearance at Summerfest after listening to me talk about it year after year. Great week!
• Only 9 days attended this year. Down from 10 in 2011 and 11 in 2010. Don't worry, this downward trend won't continue. 
• I give credit to Hillary for attending all 11 days. Just know that when I did it in 2010, there wasn't a day off in the middle. Kudos to you, Hillary!
• The 'walk about' trend continued.
• Not only was this the first year I purchased a ticket for the Marcus Amphitheater, I went 3 times! Unheard of!
• Only saw 27 bands in the 9 days attended, partly due to 3 nights at Marcus.
• The new BMO Harris Pavilion is an awesome venue! Sound system is great! Seats are great! Crowd control during the show is top notch!
• Do all 70's bands have 4 guitars?
• Dennis, Dusty, Kelly, and I took in a Riverboat Beer Tour that took us from Molly Cool's to Milwaukee Ale House to Rock Bottom. We never made it back to Molly Cool's though. Instead we stayed at Rock Bottom (Flip cup was too much fun to pass up) and then walked to Summerfest.
• Temperatures hit a 'melting' point.
• Subsequently no golf nor frolf for me.
• Tree deck building at Mark's house was something new. Great job Mark and crew!
• Limited Rock Band playing.
• I really enjoyed Leinenkugel's special beer celebrating the 45th Summerfest, Summer Festeweizen. Yum!
• The phrase "Have you met my friend Mike" made a comeback, but wasn't used much.
• Great seats are important!

BIGGEST DISASTER or BAND THAT PISSED ME OFF THE MOST
As I was thinking about this category, I was asking myself if there was a band like 12 Stones in 2010, Red Jumpsuit Appartus in 2011, or Beatallica in 2011, that was so terrible they infuriated me?  Yes, yes there was, and it happened on the last day of Summerfest. A band called Ours opening up for Bush. The few opening notes to their first song had promise. Then the singer opened his mouth. Terrible!

UTTERLY FORGETTABLE
Fools for Rowan - 2nd year in a row. Only thing good was the two cute girls in the band.
Fun.
Moxy Roxx - Old dudes who opened up for Scorpions. Awful drum solo.
Animation - Rush tribute band. I'm not a fan of Rush.
Kessler - Lead singer was pretty hot, but that's where it stops.
Ken Saydak Band - Bluesy background noise before Fools for Rowan and Skillet

BUCKETLIST BANDS (SAW AND NEVER NEED TO SEE AGAIN...OR WON'T)
Aerosmith - 3rd time I've seen them. Same show as it was 20 years ago.
Alice Cooper - Never a big fan, but glad I got to see him.
Scorpions - I'll add them here only because this is their supposed farewell tour.

BANDS THAT EVERYONE SHOULD SEE
Skillet - Simply AMAZING!
Cowboy Mouth - Surely not a headliner, but definitely a lot of fun.

BANDS WITH MOST POTENTIAL
Lazarus A.D. - from Kenosha, WI
The Heroes Lie - from Milwaukee, WI

BIGGEST SURPRISE
Halestorm - Powerful vocals! Great energy! Amazing drum solo!
Atmosphere - a Hip Hop/DJ group from Minnesota. Most packed I've ever seen the Miller Lite stage at 6pm.

BEST PERFORMANCE
Skillet - Never before, since I have been going to Summerfest, have I seen a band put on such an amazing show on a free stage with fireworks, sparklers, fire, explosions, lights, elevators, and a drum set that elevated and spins! Skillet won this award back in 2010 and they win it again in 2012, only it was better because we were closer!

TOP 5
5. Adelita's Way
4. Iron Maiden
3. Scorpions
2. Foo Fighters
1. Skillet

BEST OF THE REST
Bush
Halestorm
Art of Dying

Take another look at the pictures.

PARTING SHOTS
I have seen over 100 concerts over the last three or four years, many of them I've written about in this blog. As I have watched, observed, listened, and felt each and every show, one thing is for certain. You cannot fully enjoy a rock show if you have terrible seats. You need to be up close! 



Still five and a half months left in the year and already have two more shows lined up - Trapt at the Brat Stop and Rise Against at The Rave/Eagles's Ballroom. Rock on friends!!

Summerfest...final weekend recap

Summerfest 2012 is officially over. The last day was on Sunday. Another great year of great music, great friends, and great fun. Let me recap my final three days at the World's Largest Music Festival...

Friday, July 6th, we headed down to Summerfest a little earlier than previous days. I wanted to see The Heroes Lie, an up and coming band from Milwaukee. I've seen them a few times before, including at last year's Summerfest. They are a really solid rock band that's been getting some national exposure lately. It's pretty cool to kind of see this unfold. No where to go but up for these guys. 

We walked around a little bit and stopped at the Miller Lite Oasis and checked out Atmosphere, some hip hop DJ group. They were entertaining, as were the people watching. The extreme heat brought out skimpier clothing, which some people can get away with and others shouldn't even try. People watching at festivals is always a great time! Back over to the Rock Stage to see Art of Dying. I saw this band last year at the Rave. They definitely rocked out, setting the stage for the night's headliner, Adelita's Way. Before Summerfest announced Iron Maiden and the Foo Fighters, Adelita's Way is the band that I wanted to see the most of all. Man did they deliver. A fairly new band with only two albums, they played a lot of my favorites, including "Criticize", "Sick", and "Dirty Little Thing". From beginning to end, this night was one of the best this year. If you haven't heard of Adelita's Way...check them out!

Saturday saw a couple of friends, my brother and I take in a riverboat beer tour. It was a beautiful day for de'boat'chery and it turned out to be a great event. 

We arrived at the Summerfest grounds in time to get some food and head over to the Marcus Aphitheater, where my brother and I saw Aerosmith. Again, not my first time seeing them (saw them back in 1987 and 1988), but it was my brother's first time. Aerosmith is one of those bands that continue to perform at a high level, even at their age.

On Sunday, the 11th and final day of Summerfest, things were a little more subdued, a bit more relaxed. Definitely not as much drinking on the last day as during the rest of the festival. I did some walking around and enjoyed the great weather. About 8:00pm, I was at the U.S. Cellular Connection Stage with some friends who were there to see Bush later that night. I had previously decided that, after seeing Bush twice already in the last year, I was going to see Halestorm at the Rock Stage. So this band called, Ours, starts playing. I thought they had some promise...right up until the singer opened his mouth. Oh my...terrible. So I promptly walked over to the Rock Stage to see New Medicine, a decent rock band that I've seen before. Certainly better than Ours.  

Headlining the Rock Stage on the last day of Summerfest was none other than Halestorm. I've never seen a complete show from this band and I'm very glad that I saw them on this day. Not only is the lead singer, Lizzie, hot, she has an amazing female rock voice...powerful yet melodic. She belted hits like "It's Not You", "Rock Show", the ever popular "I Get Off", and "Love Bites (So Do I)" off their latest album. They even did an outstanding cover of Skid Row's "Slave to the Grind". Not only was Lizzie's vocals powerful, her brother Arejay did an amazing drum solo. This young man played with more energy that I have seen from a drummer in a very long time. He could be the human version of Animal from the Muppet Show. Jumping up and down in his seat. Throwing sticks. Dropping sticks. About a third of the way through his solo, he threw the sticks into the crowd. Then he proceeded to continue the drum solo with his bare hands. After tiring of that, he then grabbed what might have been the biggest drum sticks I have seen - must have been three feet long - and finished the drum solo with them. It was pretty amazing. 

When Halestorm finished, I was able to catch the last five or six songs from Bush. Perfect way to end Summerfest 2012. Another great music festival! You've read what I've written about my time at this great music festival, now check out some pictures. Oh, but it's not over just yet. Stay tuned for the Sumerfest 2012 Superlatives.  Here is the one from 2011.  Keep on rockin!!!

It WAS cooler by the lake

Yesterday makes seven (If I'm counting correctly) straight days of sweltering temperatures in the upper 90's. At one point I saw that the temperature hit 108. That must have been at the airport. Believe it or not, it really was a few degrees cooler by the lake. While the air may have been hot, the music at Summerfest was hot as well. Last night was my sixth night at the World's Largest Music Festival and one that saw me take yet another show at the Marcus Amphitheater. The Marcus Amphitheater, for those that have never been, is the main concert venue on the Summerfest grounds where the main day headliners play. Tickets to these shows are normally more expensive than you daily Summerfest rate of $16, but they do include admission into the the festival. Since I've started going to Summerfest, I had yet to ever purchase a ticket for the Marcus, because, until now, there really hasn't been a band play there that I either haven't already seen OR that I really needed/wanted to see...until this year. Last Thursday, the Foo Fighters were there. Last night, it was Iron Maiden!

I grew up listening to Iron Maiden. They were one of my favorite bands, yet I had missed out on previous opportunities to see them live. It's very rare that their tours take them through the U.S. They are huge, mega stars internationally. Of course, I was psyched when Summerfest announced they were coming. Joining them on tour, and opening, was another classic rocker, Alice Cooper. Considered to be the father of the shock rock era, Alice Cooper's set consisted of lots of props, smoke, and theatrics that he's become well known for. I've never been a huge fan of Alice Cooper, but he did play many of the songs I do like such as "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "I'm Eighteen", "Hey Stoopid", and "Schools Out." It was a fairly short, but good 12 song set.

Not long afterwards, Iron Maiden took the stage and proceeded to rock the crowd with hit after hit. This was their Maiden England tour, in which they based their setlist off of the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album. That just happened to be one of my favorite albums from them and it came around at a time (late 1980's) when I was really into Iron Maiden. Our seats weren't that great, but the show was awesome. Bruce Dickinson is still an incredible singer for this amazing band. Here is Iron Maiden's setlist:

Today is the eighth day of Summerfest and an optional one at that. I'm probably not going to go to the Big Gig tonight. Maybe I'm spoiled some for having this kind of festival in my backyard, but tonight's music lineup just might be the worse of all eleven days. I'm definitely back on Friday. On tap for Friday are The Heroes Lie (a great Milwaukee band!), Art of Dying, and Adelita's Way. I expect it to be another great night of rock music!  Stay thirsty my friends!!

I'm Awake, I'm Alive

Oh yeah, what another absolutely amazing show last night from Skillet!! Two years ago, at Summerfest 2010, this band surprised us by putting on one of the very best concerts I have seen at Summerfest. I remember rating them as my biggest surprise and best performance that year. Two years later, I was expecting at least the same, but it was better. One of the main reasons it was better was the fact we were a lot closer to the stage than in 2010. I've written in the past about how there is a definite correlation between how close you are to the stage and how much you get out of a show...how much you enjoy it. Summerfest 2012 is proving my theory to be correct.

Before Skillet took the stage, we had to sit through a couple other bands, the Ken Saydak Band, which was merely bluesy background music, and Fools For Rowan, who I described in my Summerfest 2011 review as being 'utterly forgettable'...they were. Not impressed again.

In the seven years or so that I've been going to Summerfest, never have I seen a band put on such a stage performance as Skillet does. What makes it even better is that their songs and their lyrics are awesome. They had two elevators, one on each side of the stage, where members of the band would be elevated up and down during portions of the show. The drum set elevated as well and also spun around during Jen Ledger's solo (Jen Ledger is an amazing drummer and she's gorgeous too!).  Add smoke machines, fire, explosions, sparkler wheels, and spark fountains and you get one hell of a show. 


So far this has been an amazing Summerfest, which is somewhat of a surprise since initially the music lineups weren't that great. Then they announced bands like Skillet, Scorpions, and the Foo Fighters. They could have stopped there and I would have been happy, but it only gets better.  Tonight I see a band that I grew up a huge fan of but, for one reason or another, have not had the chance to see live yet...Iron Maiden! Making a rare U.S. tour, I will finally get to see this amazing metal band live! Alice Cooper is the opening act. Rock on!!