Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Another Halloween Option


A friend tipped me off to a gig you may want to check out on November 1st at The Annex in Madison Wisconsin. Guido's Racecar performs with others that night. That same friend told me that Guido's Racecar has upped the harmonies, and tightened up their music since playing Summerfest this past season. Who knows, you may have to actually pony up the cash for a Marcus Amphitheater ticket to see Guido's Racecar.

You never know who will make it big someday. All the parts are in place for this band. Let's see what happens. If you do drive back from Madison that same night, take it easy and don't drink and drive. You wanna live to see another great Halloween.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Gwar on Halloween

What a great show to go see on Halloween. Gwar will be coming to the Rave on Oct. 31st. I got sprayed with fake blood at that same venue, from that same band back in 1988. Gwar is a visual buffet to say the least. Costume after costume, cool licks, great music is all Gwar, all the time.

We played a show in Janesville last year. A dude came up to the stage and he was covered in paint. He had been to Gwar that same night, and he looked quited burned out. He still rocked hard at my show, but clearly, the first act he saw that night took the most out of him.

Imagine the costumes, the people, the fun at The Rave this Friday night. If you can't think of anything to do this weekend, you are already part of the undead. Be safe, and have fun.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

I didn't know that the Gufs had been playing music that long

The Gufs have just announced another show. They are performing at the Turner Hall Ballroom this Saturday night. The strange thing about the ad is that it states that The Gufs have been playing together for 20 years. I had to look that up. Yes, they started as college kids, and made a splash nearly ten years ago. Within two years of that splash, their relationship with the record label that they were on went sour, and The Gufs were released from their contract. They fell off the map by 2001.



My coworker, Jimmy The Bear, loves the Gufs. He's been to at least twelve shows since they first hit the stage. They have never been about the money, the fame, the album sales, the recognition, the accolades, the respect, the status, or anything that comes with success. They only do it for the fans. That's a good thing, because the Gufs really aren't known outside of Milwaukee anymore. Those Milwaukee fans are as solid as a block of hard cheese.



When you take seven years off, and then come back to the music scene, you can pretty much forget about fame. Unless of course you were a superstar prior to your departure. In the case of the Gufs, an album charting at #33 back in 1999 is not superstar territory. Being tagged as a band that made trouble for their label is going to put you in the permanent penalty box as well.
Right on their own website, they state that they are only in it for the fun. I'm not trying to rip them a new one.


In 2006 they were recognized as having the second most downloads for an unsigned band on Purevolume.com, a website that allows artists to post their own DIY projects. The Gufs might crawl their way back to moderate success in the music business. You never know.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

A bad weekend for Wisconsin teams


On a side note, when I didn't go out to see any bands this past weekend, my thoughts drifted over to sports. The weekend where the Brewers lost to the Phillies, the Packers lost, and the Badgers got crushed, gave me pause to think. I took these losses as an opportunity to get to a game for a reasonable price. What would Wisconsin Badgers tickets cost, now that they have lost three big games?

The collegiate atmosphere is so much fun at Madison. The band got punished last week, but they will be at Camp Randall for the next home game. I'll be there too. I just have to get a dose of the college spirit.

College players have such emotion. I suspect that the Badgers will be hungry for a win too. It's homecoming week, but I didn't go to Madison. I stayed closer to home for my degree, but I still feel like I'm welcome when I go to see the Badgers football team.

I will give music the week off. Go Bucky!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Heading across the border to see Bob

In my last post, I mentioned that Dylan is coming to Milwaukee. After two pre-sales, and the early "on-sale," he sold out. Someone crying about not getting tickets made a big enough impression on the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel that they featured her plight in print. The problem I have with that story is at the very end of the article. She has hopes that some kind ticket broker will sell her some tickets at face value, so she can go to the show.

There is a problem with that. The venue he's playing in Milwaukee hates brokers. If a broker sold her tickets at face value, the venue manager would be waiting for her to show up so he could kick her out of her seats, and keep her from seeing the show.

I doubt that the Journal/Sentinel would report that part of the story, but it's the sad truth.

That's why I'm heading across the border to get Northrop Auditorium tickets for the show. They don't have some rabid stage manager that wants to keep devoted fans out of the venue. Once a show is sold out, I don't understand why someone would try to keep people from reselling their tickets. Believe it or not, some people actually have to change their plans the night of a show. Sometimes a person will buy a four-pack of tickets only to have two friends back out, leaving someone holding the bag. Putting the tickets up on Craigslist will just get you a hornets nest of trouble.

I'm not going to say more than that. I'll just give my money to another venue.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Bob Dylan not playing the Rave this time.

The fans of Bob Dylan are happy to know that he is not playing at the Rave this time. He's has played there a number of times, and it is just not the best venue for his style and sound.

This time, he's playing in an old theater. That should make the show more acoustically favorable. When the house is full at The Rave, it is still an echo chamber. A co-worker commented on the fact that it is very rare when a band can get a good sound at the Rave.

For an artist like Dylan, I think it's better to have a place where the sound is absorbed by cloth seats, carpets, and an incline that can kill the echo. Dylan's catalogue is so enormous, that one could only guess which songs he will be playing on the night of November 6th.

I also think that most of the folks at the show will be above the age of 40. At least Bob shaved the pencil moustache. That hair thing was not appealing to me. Old guys should not try to pull off the stylish thin mustache. Grow the thing out first, and then see if it works. Sorry for the delay in any posts, I have been very busy doing my real job.