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!!

Summerfest will continue after a brief intermission

Last year Summerfest closed on the one Monday in the middle of the 11 day festival. They did it again this year. Marketing analysis showed that this was the least attended day for the last several years, so they decided to close and use it as an opportunity to restock. I'm glad I did the 11 days straight back in 2010 when it really was 11 days straight with no break in between.  

My brother and I did end up going to Summerfest on Sunday. It turned out to be a walkabout day. No bands that we really wanted to see, so we walked around and stopped at different stages and checked out the booths and vendors there. People watching is always a premium! 

We did spend some time at the Rock Stage. Listened to a young Chicago band called Kessler and met them afterwards. Then we watched another young metal band from Kenosha, WI...Lazarus AD. Really good metal band with a little bit of growling vocals. I wouldn't be surprised if they began to take off.  

Today is the beginning of the second half of Summerfest. Tonight we see Skillet. Saw them at Summerfest 2010...amazing show!  Expect another amazing performance tonight.  Time to go.  Stay tuned!  ROCK ON!!

Loving You Sunday Morning

What's better than one Barylski in Milwaukee?  How about two? Hahaha.  My brother arrived in "Brew City" yesterday. He got lucky in that he missed his connecting flight to Milwaukee, so was delayed about an hour and a half. He's been wanting to experience Summerfest for quite a while now and finally got his chance.  

After helping my friend Mark make some progress building a tree house, we headed down to the Summerfest grounds.  On the docket this night was none other than the Scorpions. Based on the massive crowd they drew the last time we saw them at Summerfest 2010 (I also saw them back in 1988), we knew to arrive a little earlier to the stage if we wanted to get decent seats. This was my first show at the brand new BMO Harris Pavilion and I have to say I really like the new venue. Not a bad seat in the house. The seats were all on an incline toward the stage, kind of like in the Marcus Amphitheater, but not exactly. It was more of a gentle slope.  The sound was amazing too. I will definitely look to see more concerts at this stage. Hopefully they will replace the rock stage with something like this. Great job Milwaukee World Festival, Inc.!

Upon first arriving at the stage, Animation, a Rush tribute band, was playing. I'm not a huge Rush fan, but my brother is.  They were decent though. The next band was Moxy Roxx.  Never heard of them before and maybe for good reason. They really weren't that good at all. Nearly put me to sleep albeit for a few songs that had good beats. We weren't there to see them anyways.

Right about 9:50pm, the Scorpions took the stage and proceeded to rock the house. This is their farewell tour as the band is retiring. Sure we've heard that before. Hasn't Kiss done like three farewell tours?  The Scorpions have been around since 1965 though and at age 64, lead singer Klaus Meine can still hit all the notes. What an amazing performance! They played all of my favorites including "Holiday", "Blackout", and "Big City Nights."  

With this being my brothers first time at Summerfest, I think it was successful. I'm trying to give him a good taste of Milwaukee. Summerfest, food from Saz' so far. Brunch today. Lakefront Brewery tour tomorrow. Should be a great week. 

The name of the band is...

Cowboy Mouth!  Last night was my second day at Summerfest. Already started out this year by missing the first day. No worries, there are still 8 more to go. Since there wasn't any big name band that I was dying to see, last night turned into somewhat of a walkabout night. Arrived on the grounds just before 6:00pm to see Your Villain My Hero. They are a cover band that covers mostly pop music. We've seen them pretty much every year for the last three or four years. Very entertaining band. Once they finished, was time to walk around. A stop at JoJo's Martini Lounge is always on the agenda. Checked out the brand new BMO Harris Pavillion. Very nice new stage addition to the grounds.

The beer...shame on me for not mentioning the beer. Last year, Leinenkugel's and 10th & Blake each brewed a special Summerfest beer, Summerfest Amber Ale and Big Gig IPA, respectively. This year, for the festival's 45th anniversary, Leinenkugel's brewed a special Summer FesteWeizen.   It's a Bavarian Style Hefeweizen brewed with malted wheat with a creamy finish. Very flavorful with notes of bread and banana. It's a must try for SF goers.

Headlining at the Miller Lite Oasis stage last night was Fun. I've listened to their album and wasn't that impressed, but they did have a good song or two, including the one everyone knows, "We Are Young." My friends camped out at one of the picnic tables in the back, not needing to be up close for this band. Though, judging from the massive crown of people (mostly teenagers), there was no way they were getting any closer than they did. The intense crown reminded me of the crowd for the Scorpions a couple years ago. Crazy packed!  Fun came on at 10:00pm. I heard the first couple of songs and decided to take a walk with some other friends I met up with. I figured, with only one album, they would play "We Are Young" at 10:55pm.  I was dead on correct too!!  In between, I checked out Cowboy Mouth. I had never heard of this band and had no idea what to expect. Turns out they were a lot of fun. The drummer/singer had so much energy. I bet he'd be a blast to hang out with.

A calmer, quieter night at Summerfest compared to other nights.  Today, my brother flies into Milwaukee. He got tired of hearing me talk about Summerfest and wanted to experience it for himself.  Going to be a great week.  Tonight I'll let my brother choose what band we see. I have a feeling it may be a retro night with the Scorpions and ZZ Top both headlining stages.

All my life I've been searching for something

Something never comes never leads to nothing. FOO FIGHTERS!!! Oh hell yeah!!! Last night I saw, quite possibly, one of the best concerts I have seen in a very long time and from one of the greatest bands to grace the music scene in the last 15 years or more. AMAZING with a capital A!  If the triple digit temperatures weren't enough to make my face melt, the blistering, energy-filled set from the Foo Fighters got the job done.

From beginning to end, these modern rock legends powered through a lineup of hits from all of there albums as well as a few snippets of covers such as the Police's "Message in a Bottle", Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", Pink Floyd's "In the Flesh?" (sung by drummer Taylor Hawkins), and Cheap Trick's "Surrender" to which Dave was playing a checkered guitar loaned to him by Cheap Trick guitarist, Rick Neilsen. Opening with "All My Life" and rolling right into "Times Like These", the Foo Fighters transitioned between older songs and newer ones to give us a performance we will soon not forget. At one point during the set, Dave Grohl apologized for not stopping in Milwaukee during their last tour and proceeded to make up for that with an extra long, no frills setlist.

I do need to mention that the opening act was Silversun Pickups. Third time I've seen this band. They are a really good band, though something was up with their sound and microphones. Still a very entertaining opener as they got the crowd warmed up for the headliners.

Back to Summerfest tonight.  Not sure who is on the schedule tonight. Could be Fun.

It's here!!!!

351 days ago, I was walking out of Henry Maier Festival Park after watching Hollywood Undead. The completion of another fantastically entertaining Summerfest. Well, it's here again folks! Such an exciting time of year here in Milwaukee, WI as the city comes alive with hoards of music fans and festival goers. As per usual, I'm taking time off from work for the entire 11 days. Initially, the 2012 lineup was a bit lacking of bands that I've been really wanting to see, but there are still a number of great bands to see. I could give up the names of some of the bands that I will see, but, just as in years past, which bands I see could change daily.  I will say that this is the first year that I have actually purchased tickets to see bands at the Marcus Amphitheater...Foo Fighters (with Silversun Pickups) and Iron Maiden (with Alice Cooper). I'm very excited to see those two bands!  I'll fill you in on the other bands as the week unfolds.

Oh yeah...one more exciting thing...after years of hearing me talk about Summerfest, my brother has decided he wants to check it out for himself. He's flying in Saturday, June 30th and staying through Sunday, July 8th. This week has the potential to be epic.

ROCK ON!!!

Are you ready?

I said Are You READY?? Oh yeah, just over two weeks until the World's Largest Music Festival...Summerfest 2012! It's the 45th anniversary for this 11 day highlight of Milwaukee's lakefront. 11 days, 11 stages, and over 700 bands from all genres of music. Always a great time!

In years past, I've attended what I like to call a 'Summerfest warmup' show just prior to the 'Big Gig'. This year was no different, other than I haven't written about it until now, sort of. On Friday May 25th, some friends and I went to see Nickelback at the Bradley Center (my first ever concert at this indoor arena). Wait...don't scoff...don't laugh. Nickelback happened to be touring with Bush, Seether, and My Darkest Days. Now that's a lineup you can't pass up. Nickelback is the only band of these four that I had not seen live yet. I have read a lot of the articles and heard all the criticism, but needed to see for myself. Here's one good article worth reading, A Night With the World's Most Hated Bands. It's actually a pretty good read. Nickelback came out at a the time after grunge music ended and before the nu metal movement began. So you could say they were lost. They obviously found a formula for success and have become a very successful band. It's funny to hear people hate Nickelback for no apparent reason other than to just hate them. Are they bandwagon haters? Who knows? Nickelback doesn't really care because even with all the haters out there, they sell out every single concert. To each their own. Back to the concert...

Friends and I head downtown early, find a good parking spot, and head to the bar across the street, Center Court I believe it's called. We had a few beers and some food...

Oh here's a funny story... While sitting there (the windows were open) a lady comes to the window looking for help. Let's call her a 'lady of the afternoon'. She had a hotel room key and needed to be there by a certain time apparently. She was asking how to get there because the "road was broken". Honey...the road was closed to cars, not pedestrians. It was funny!

...As we are sitting there, we look across the street and see a guy with a mohawk riding a skateboard. It was My Darkest Days' lead guitarist Sal Coz Costa. So of course we went out and met him. Cool guy!

Some time later, we are in the arena and we are right up against the barricade on the right side of the stage. We quickly make friends with the security guards and the people around us. Going to be a good night. First band up, My Darkest Days. Saw these guys in 2011 with Bush and Chevelle. Had never heard of them then. Now I am a fan. Really good band. Their most popular song is probably "Porn Star Dancing".

Next up was Seether, a band that, although I really enjoy their music, I had thought they were pretty boring live. Maybe it's maturity...on my part. Maybe they have stepped it up a bit. They played just 8 songs and most of my favorites.

Third band to hit the stage was none other than Bush. Second time I see these guys in the last year. Great band. Very glad they got back together. Their new album is really good. If you haven't seen Bush, go see them.

Finally, the headliner of the night, Nickelback. For all of the crap that people give to this band, they certainly put on a great show. Sure they have all of the sterotypical 80's stage gimics like fireworks, pyro, levels, props, glitter, etc., but they know how to work the stage and perform to the audience. While they may not be the first band I think of when I want to listen to music, they do have a lot of really good songs.

Check out the rest of the pics. After the concert, we did take in a really good cover band back at the Center Court bar. It was a good night and a good warm up to Summerfest. What's on tap for Summerfest?  What bands will I see?  I'm sure the list of bands I see may be different at the end of the 11 days, but I will tell give you a few of them I plan on seeing, including two biggies...Halestorm, Art of Dying, Adelita's Way, Skillet, Iron Maiden, and...are you ready for this?  I said..ARE YOU READY???  The Foo Fighters!!!  Look for more in a couple weeks. Rock on!

Best is yet to come

Saw yet another great concert the other night (5/16/2012) at The Rave...P.O.D. and RED with Icon For Hire and Love & Death. It was a last minute decision on my part to go. I bought the tickets yesterday afternoon. I am so glad I did. I last saw P.O.D. at Summerfest in 2006. If I remember correctly, they weren't even a headliner. They played at 8:00pm. At that time, I knew they had a couple of good songs. What I didn't know was how good they were live. Last night was just as great of a performance. P.O.D. is set to release a new album this Summer, their first album since 2008. Here's the recap...

The opening act was Icon for Hire from Decatur, IL. This four-piece band was pretty good. They have a female lead singer. Now normally I have a difficult time getting into rock/metal bands with female singers. Sometimes they seem to try to hard or something and the singing is just terrible.  As I've written in previous blogs, the drummer may be the heartbeat of a band, but the singer can make or break a band altogether. This is especially true for established bands that change their lead singer. It really is a different band with a different singer. Whoa...let me reel myself back in and get back to talking about Icon for Hire... this singer is really good and she was backed by a talented band. It's usually a good sign when the drummer, as well as the rest of the band, has a lot of energy. They only played a short half hour set, but threw in a cover of House of Pain's Jump Around. Nice!

Next up was Love & Death, the new band of former Korn guitarist and co-founder, Brian "head" Welch. Another short set, though they haven't even released a full album yet. I could definitely hear the Korn influences in their music. Near the end of their set, they performed and instrumental cover of Korn's Got the Life and a pretty awesome metal cover of Devo's Whip It!


RED was up next. I've seen this band several times over the last few years and never get tired of them. Great music and always an awesome live band! RED came right out and hit us with song after song and barely stopped in between. Beginning with the opening track off their latest cd, Until We Have Faces, RED performed with tremendous energy.

RED Setlist

Finishing off the night was P.O.D. They played six songs from their upcoming album, opening with the title track Murdered Love. Their set was filled with power and energy and the crowd really go into it. A large mosh pit developed in the middle and P.O.D. provided the fuel for the swirling bodies, especially when they rocked favorites Boom, Youth of the Nation, Southtown, and Alive. During Youth of the Nation, they brought out a young 17 year old Milwaukee kid, whom they met earlier that day, to play drums. The kid did a fantastic job...talented.  Right before the final song, lead singer Sonny's son came out (with assistance) to give his dad a birthday cake. All of the other bands were on side stage to celebrate as well. Sonny told the crowd that he would share the cake after the song. Needless to say, as soon as the cake touched the crowd, you would have thought it exploded...cake everywhere! Happy Birthday Sonny!

P.O.D. Setlist

Great show! So glad I went! Great live music is therapeutic...it's feeds the soul!

Check out the pictures.

"Don't ever let life pass you by"

Great lyrics from a great band...Incubus.  Friends and I saw them last night at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, WI. Amazing show! I've been wanting to see them for several years, but they haven't been on tour since like 2008. So finally I get my chance.

Tickets were general admission, which I thought was odd considering the Riverside Theater normally is a numbered seat venue. I knew the show was sold out. I just wasn't sure what to expect upon arrival. What I didn't expect was the line waiting to get in to be so long. It wrapped around the building, alongside the river, across the bridge the next street down, and back down alongside the river on the other side. People had been waiting in line since 4:00pm.  We arrived about 6:30. Hey, we weren't the last ones in line. Fortunately there isn't a bad seat in the house.

There was no opening act, just about an hour and a half of great music from Incubus. No frills. No talking. No stories. They just flowed from one great hit to the next. Lead singer, Brandon Boyd's voice is simply amazing. He has such a powerful voice and vocal range. In some ways he is similar to Chris Cornell. Both are outstanding vocalists. Incubus played all of my favorites and even a couple of obscure songs that I wasn't that familiar with, such as Earth to Bella and A Certain Shade of Green. With so many great songs from their albums, the setlist was awesome from the top to the bottom. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this show. Live music has a way to clear your head and feed your soul, especially when it's a great band like Incubus.  Check out the pictures from the show.

Everybody Wants Some!!

I want some too!!  Saw Van Halen last night with my brother at the Mohegan Sun Casino. Awesome show!! To say that my brother and I have a great time every time we get together is an understatement. We always seem to have an awesome time. My brother had purchased two tickets to see Van Halen and had offered me one. So I jumped at the chance to see Van Halen with my brother and make it a rock star weekend. It has certainly been just that. I flew in Thursday and it's been nonstop good times since...pool, casino, tasty beer, family and friends, and more.

Thursday night we played pool and genuinely took it easy, well aside from all the beer we drank. Friday we went down to the casino. We had dinner and did a little bit of gambling. I didn't win though. We were surprised to find out that Filter was playing for free. Sweet deal! I've seen them several times over the last couple of years and they usually put on a good show. This one was a small stage inside the casino. Richard Patrick spent a considerable amount of time walking through the crowd and body surfing, even body surfing right over us. He was obviously high on something. I did get take some good pictures. I met up with an old high school friend who works at the casino. Great to see him.

Saturday was the night of the Van Halen concert. We started the day by heading to the Willimantic Brewing Company to sample their beer. This should be no surprise to those who know me.  The beer was excellent too! We then made our way back to the casino where we chilled, drank beer, and waited for the show, which was awesome!  Apparently this is the only date on their our that Kool & The Gang isn't playing, so we were treated to two full hours of Van Halen. David Lee Roth may not jump and kick like he did in 1984, but he definitely brought the energy. Eddie Van Halen's fingers are still as fast as ever. It was just an outstanding show from beginning to end! Check out the pictures and the setlist.

The party didn't stop after the show either. We made our way back and stopped at a bar called PYZZZ. This bar has been in existence for like 15 years yet I had never heard of it. So much has changed since I moved away. From there we went back to the pool hall where I ran into an old high school friend who I haven't seen in 20+ years. We ended up going to his house for more partying.  It was great to see him. Seems like every time I make my way back to CT, I have a great time reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. I wish I could meet up with more of my friends, but that will have to wait until next time.

Let the 2012 concert season begin

Granted it's only two months into the year 2012, but my concert season finally got serious this past Saturday. Up until now, I had only seen a couple of cover bands, namely the 5 Card Studs and Choogy, both great and very fun. I did also see The Heroes Lie a few weeks back. These guys are amazing. The Heroes Lie is a great band from right here in Milwaukee, WI and they rock. They are starting to get some serious national exposure. It's pretty exciting to watch it unfold.  Aside from those shows, I am flying to CT to see Van Halen with my brother. I also have tickets waiting for me to see Incubus on May 8 and Nickelback, Bush, My Darkest Days, and Seether on May 25, but those shows are three months away. And don't scoff at the Nickelback concert...did you check out that lineup?! I couldn't wait three months though. I needed my fix. It was finally time to get really serious and kick it into a higher gear. So on Saturday, February 25, I went to see Korn, the perfect band to appease my live music addiction...a definite warm up while I wait for Summerfest to announce its lineups...and a perfect start to my concert season.

Friends and I had attempted to see Korn last year at the inaugural Rock USA, but that turned out to be quite the failure. One, we couldn't get close to the stage. We were probably a 500-600 years away. Two, the sound system that was out near where we were sitting cutout, so we couldn't hear them OR see them. Terrible venue. Feel free to look back at that blog post to read about that show.  Back to Saturday...

When the announcement was made that Korn was coming, it said that J Devil would be performing as well. J Devil is the alter ego of Jonathan Davis, the lead singer of Korn. It didn't matter to me who would be opening, but I thought it would be cool to see J Devil. When the show began, a young almost Justin Bieber-looking dj by the name Maximillion (not sure if that's how you spell his name). I'm not sure if it was because of the way he looked or if the majority of the crowd was not prepared to hear djs mixing up sounds, but most of these metal heads kept flipping him the bird. Most even turned their back to him for most of his performance. He was good spirited about it and even asked the crowd to keep flipping him off while he was up on stage jamming away. What was even more interesting was when the next dj came on stage...none other than J Devil himself. Well of course these metal heads loved him, but he was basically playing the same kind of stuff that Maximillion was playing. Maybe it was that he looked like he was 15. J Devil jammed out for about a half hour or so and then left the stage for the last dj whose name was Sluggo.  This guy was really good...certainly knew what he was doing. Overall, three djs opening up for a metal show was definitely new to me, but I did enjoy it.

At last Korn took the stage. Awesome! Simply Awesome! So much energy! No frills, no talking, no political tirades, no bullshit...just loud, metal music! They opened the show playing some old and rare songs - Predictable, Lies, No Place to Hide, Helmet in the Bush. Then ripped into several off their latest album "The Path of Totality" (a must for any Korn fan) - Narcissistic Cannibal, Chaos Lives in Everything, My Wall, Get Up!, and Way Too Far. Korn then played some of their hits - Here To Stay, Freak On A Leash. Falling Away From Me, and their awesome cover of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall. The encore was pretty sweet as well...three songs beginning with Shoots and Ladders that morphed into a cover of Metallica's One, finishing with Got the Life and Blind.  Great show!! So glad I went!!  I did take pictures...check them out. Until next time, rock on!

The year is starting to shape up

Not a lot happening so far in 2012, though it has been a pretty good year to date. Only one or two small blemishes, but certainly nothing that is going to deter this from being a fantastic year. The 'opportunity' that I had mentioned previously didn't pan out. Yes, it was a job. Turns out they aren't really sure which direction they want to take with the position I had interviewed for and it may take a turn away from technology altogether. A bit of a bummer, but it was great to have people express interest in me, my skills, and the value I could bring to their company. It was a good morale booster, that is for sure.

I'm well on my way toward a personal goal I set for myself involving fitness and nutrition. I signed up with a personal trainer last October to kick my workouts into a new gear and educate myself about exercise and nutrition. I set goals of being fitter, leaner, and stronger by my 40th birthday as well as wanting to knock a couple minutes off my 5k run time. I'm definitely looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead and seeing my progress.

No major concerts yet this year, but I did see a couple of local bands. In January I saw the 5 Card Studs again.  I saw them a couple times last year. They are a lot of fun. They describe themselves as "a unique blend of big-time Las Vegas attitude and ‘70’s TV game show schmaltz, all glossed over with a ‘washed-up lounge/wedding singer’ veneer"...a definite good time!  The other band I saw was called Choogy. A friend knew one of the band members and asked me to join her. They were your typical cover band and decent. Nice variety of music from different decades and genres. They even covered Lady GaGa. The surprise of the night was finding out that I knew one of the guitarists. I thought I recognized him and then it hit me. I met him through a mutual friend about five or six years ago. He said his band was formed in our mutual friend's basement. Interesting. It was good to see him.

The concert scene is starting to shape up. I already have tickets to see Nickelback, Bush, Seether, and My Darkest Days at the Bradley Center in May.  Couldn't pass up that lineup. Third row seats don't hurt either.  The first weekend in March, I am flying to CT to see Van Halen with my brother. That will definitely be a rock star trip! This week it was announced that Incubus is coming to Milwaukee in May as well. I've been wanting to see them for a while now so I'm going to see about scoring tickets for that show. Korn is here this month. I still may go to that one. Jonathan Davis, the lead singer, is debuting his brand new DJ set as his J Devil alter ego. Rock USA announced their lineup...I'm undecided about going to that venue again, but we'll see. I'm still waiting on lineup announcements for Rock Fest and to see if the Verge Music Festival will come back this year. Of course, Summerfest looms as well.  Stay tuned!  Keep on party rockin'!

Another year over. And a new one just begun.

Each year as the days on the calendar go by and the year changes to a new one, I like to recount my experiences of the previous year and look forward to what lies ahead. 2011 was a great year full of music, beer, and lots of good times.

Last year I went to quite a few excellent music concerts. I began the year with My Darkest Days and Three Days Grace. I saw an amazing acoustic performance by Chris Cornell (lead singer of such great bands as Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden, and Audioslave). In April, I saw Cold, Egypt Central, Kopek, and a few other bands. In May 2011, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee with my Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems & Technology, an achievement that I am very proud of. My brother came to Milwaukee to help me celebrate my graduation weekend and we had a great time. I took him to see Disturbed and Nonpoint at The Rave. Great weekend! The last weekend in May I saw Godsmack and Sully Erna's performance of his solo album Avalon. The Avalon performance was my all time favorite show of 2011, hands down!! Simply AMAZING!!!

Summerfest saw me attend 10 out of 11 days, unlike all 11 in 2010. Summerfest is always a great time! Among the bands I saw were: Saving Abel, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Rise Against, Sick Puppies, Middle Class Rut, Crash Kings, The Heroes Lie (a great local band), 10 Years, Hollywood Undead, and many more. I attended the inaugural Rock USA festival in Oshkosh, WI, where I saw Dokken, Hollywood Undead, and KISS. Other shows I saw were Five Finger Death Punch, All That Remains, Evans Blue, Pop Evil, Chevelle, and Bush. I met quite of few bands last year as well.

At the tail end of 2010, my brother and I kind of proclaimed that 2011 was going to be a great year for both of us. That turned out to be true for my brother, who landed what he calls is his dream job. While it was a great year for me also, I didn't experience the kind of change that he did. Looking forward to 2012, however, I think there could be some very promising opportunities being presented to me in the early part of the year. Aside of the unknown, I know I can count on plenty more concerts, festivals, and great times with friends and family. I am well on my way to fulfilling some of my personal goals for 2012. I'll let you know how it goes as the days of 2012 go by. Happy New Year everyone!!!