Secret Concert Series Quickly Growing in Milwaukee

Secret venues and secret performing acts are the trade of Sofar Sounds, a global entertainment company that has, as of late, been expanding its footprint in Milwaukee.

The secrecy of a Sofar Sounds show is exciting and certainly a hook, but the bread and butter of these shows is their intimate nature. Sam Brunelli, a musician and the point person for Sofar in Milwaukee, explained these shows are a chance for artists and attendees alike to take a beat and focus on the music.

They are often held in smaller, even non-traditional venues: breweries, local businesses even people’s homes. The rooms are quiet and most of the guests will be seated. Sofar attendees buy a ticket for a show, not knowing who the artists are or where the venue is, only that it’s in a particular neighborhood (an upcoming show is in Walker’s Point) and whether they need to bring their own booze. Then 36 hours before, they will get a notification of where to show up.

As an artist himself, Brunelli has played a Sofar show in the past (in Cleveland), and described it, “You play a four-song, intimate set in front of 65 people that were silent and listening, and actually truly cared about live music.”

Every show has three acts, usually playing music from a different genre. Brunelli said he always anchors a show with a nationally performing artist and often includes at least one local act. Sebastian Mei, director of Sofar’s commercial partnerships, explained that many of these musicians — even the nationally touring acts — are early in their music careers. But this creates opportunities to see acts before they become world famous. Mei said past Sofar acts have included artists like Billie Eilish and Leon Bridges.

Sofar, headquartered in London, hosts shows in more than 400 cities around the world. Mei is based in Milwaukee, but helping grow the company globally. In 2022 the company upped its ante in Milwaukee after two years of COVID-19-related shutdowns and social distancing squeezing live performances. Pre-pandemic, Sofar organized roughly one show a month at most. This past year it’s been putting on at least two shows a month. Coming up there are two shows in January and three in February for 2023.

Before things ramped up, before COVID-19, Sofar was running largely on word of mouth, Brunelli said, coasting on the vapors of excitement in the local music scene. Now, there’s some real juice behind it, and this investment in additional shows and marketing is a testament to the general growth in that scene at all levels, he said.

The veil of secrecy isn’t just a gimmick. That combined with the show’s format encouraging a quieter, more attentive audience means, according to Brunelli, that the people there “truly love live music.”

Tickets are $18 and, Brunelli said, “It’s a great way to support live music and to support local and smaller touring artists.”