VITAL
Outing a Bully
It’s a truth many of us learned on the playgrounds of our youth: nobody reacts to criticism worse than a bully. So it’s no surprise that conservative talk show host Charlie Sykes responded to a negative article in the December issue of Milwaukee Magazine with a longwinded, sniveling diatribe that leaves the reader wondering why a guy who makes a living attacking people is so damn thin-skinned. To anyone who listens to the Sykes show on WTMJ-AM, or any of the formulaic right wing radio talk shows, much of the criticism outlined by the station’s former news director seems fairly obvious. Sykes, Mark Belling on WISN-AM and their ilk carefully select topics designed to stir up anger in their predominantly conservative audiences. They seek stories that confirm their world views and look for people to vilify. These could be public officials, bureaucrats, parents, school administrators and run-of-the-mill average citizens. Anyone, really, who provides them with the opportunity to demonize government and show how our hard-earned tax dollars are wasted. And, as Dan Shelley says in the article, Sykes is obviously very bright and very good at what he does. Sometimes Sykes can be very entertaining. He engages in a kind of verbal ju-jitsu that takes the inert energy from the many absurd stories generated by newspapers and elsewhere and builds it into an inflammatory narrative designed to entertain and anger his listeners. I get it and I can actually enjoy listening to it, in small doses, as I do Lewis Black and Dave Chappelle. But what bothers me is how manipulative he can be when dealing with listeners who call in. Those who agree with him are treated with kid gloves; they are thoughtful, insightful, clever. Callers who disagree with him are broken down in two categories. The inarticulate or weak ones are dangled as useful foils who give him the opportunity to throw the sarcastic jabs and belittling blows to diminish the caller. The brighter, more effective and persuasive callers with contrary opinions are quickly dispatched with a “thank you for your call.” It’s a cowardly tactic quite typical of the playground bully. Belling engages in a different tactic that accomplishes the same result; he raises his voice at callers and belittles them to the point you wonder why anyone would ever listen to this jerk. In fairness, it must be pointed out that Belling seems to yell at everyone but in the world of talk radio there are significant gradations to screaming. It’s also revealing (and disturbing) that Sykes is given his platform by Journal Communications Inc., which owns the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WTMJ-TV and WTMJ-AM. Sykes regularly attacks the newspaper as a part of the liberal media though the same company pays his salary and profits from his success. Sykes is also given a platform on television every Sunday morning through a show that purports to be public affairs programming. He surrounds himself with mostly like-minded fellow travelers from conservative media as well as a token, usually […]
Nov 20th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Whither Hillary?
I may be wrong but I don’t think Barack Obama will choose Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. For one thing, during the campaign they took significantly different positions on foreign policy; from her vote for the Iraq War to the wisdom of meeting with bad guy foreign leaders to going after bin Laden in Pakistan. Then there was how she inflated her role as First Lady being sent to hotspots around the globe. Then there’s the Problem with Bill. The former president is already an extraordinary diplomatic resource of cosmic proportions; traveling around the globe on behalf of his foundation, he is able to meet with state leaders and serve as an emissary, if asked. Hillary’s Foggy Bottom appointment would require some restraint on 42 (good luck with that) and I’m not sure that serves our nation’s best interests or Obama’s. Then there’s the Biden factor. Surely, Joe the Veep was brought on board to make use of his extensive experience on the world stage. It’s hard to imagine two egos the size of Biden’s and Clinton’s effectively sharing responsibility for advising the new president on all things foreign. My guess is that Hillary would be a much better choice as Health and Human Services Secretary, following in the footsteps of two prominent Badgers, Tommy Thompson and Donna Shalala. Both Obama and Clinton promised health care reform during their campaigns. Nobody knows this issue better than Hillary and she has already been rebuffed from leading the effort in the Senate by Edward Kennedy who intends to champion it himself as long as he’s drawing breath. And way too much was made of the difference between Clinton’s proposal and Obama’s. Clearly, the children’s mandate proposed by Obama would be a lot easier to pass than the universal mandate endorsed by Clinton. But nothing will happen unless Obama undertakes an Olympian effort in collaboration with Congress. Hillary and Bill tried to ram their proposal down the throats of Kennedy, Pat Moynihan, Dan Rostenkowski, George Mitchell and other Lions of Congress which was the main reason the effort failed miserably. Everything Hillary Clinton has done since 1994 demonstrates that she learned this important lesson. She has become extremely engaged in the art of legislative compromise and could be a valuable leader in this effort. In addition, children’s issues are near and dear to her heart and the HHS position would provide her with a platform to develop and implement new initiatives that could improve the lives of millions of young people. It might seem as a step down for someone of her stature and some of her supporters might see it as an insult. But she is savvy enough to know the HHS position would provide her with an ideal platform to develop a legacy that could last for generations. Not a bad deal for her and the country.
Nov 17th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
a Well-Intentioned Rebuttal (Or: Oh! Matt! Gimme a Hug!)
Fig.1: This image of a packed Cactus Club witnessing Call Me Lightning is sure evidence of a dying scene Matt Wild needs a hug. If you’ve read this month’s edition of SubVersions, Matt’s back-page column in the pages of VITAL’s print edition, you may have gotten that impression. Every year, to close the annual music issue, Matt gives his take on the state of the Milwaukee Music Scene, and he’s not in a very good mood this month. “You want to know my take on the state of the scene? It sucks. What’s more, I’m glad I’m out of it. And that HiFi lyric [NOTE: Read the article and you’ll see he’s referring to “Success! Success! Success!,” a rock song by the band I drum in. Do note that I found it totally flattering that Matt referenced us! Oh, Matt]? Oh, it’s true all right, though I would argue that in Milwaukee, no one hears you, period. It doesn’t make a lick of difference whether you’re 20, 30, or 48, because the only people that are going to give a shit about your band are your friends and girlfriends, and even they’ll piss and moan if you don’t put them on the guest list. Is the idea of a bunch of slowly graying adults playing basements and barely-attended clubs inherently ridiculous? In a world of few absolutes and rampant relativism, let me just come out and say it: Yes, yes it is. Give up now. Feel the shame.” Jon Anne Willow, our fabulous Editor in Chief, the Robbie Robertson to my Peter Parker, suspects what I am certain is true. She “has known Matt for many years and has believed for a while now that he was heading for that aspirations-vs.-reality wall most young artists collide with eventually.” Since Matt ended the music issue on such a downer, I thought I’d take a stab at a well-intentioned rebuttal to his contention that the current Milwaukee Music Scene is sucky and awful. I also would like to send Matt a small ray of hope from the other side of that wall Jon Anne is talking about, not unlike the black GI who peers over the Berlin wall and rescues Hedwig from cold East Berlin in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Only, ya know, with slightly less gay. (But only slightly.) Fig.2: Let me save you from all this strife and sauerkraut, Matt What I’m trying to say, Matt, is this: Jon Anne is 100% correct about that aspirations-vs.-reality wall. I know because I full-on smacked into it head first two years ago. The year was 2006. The Republicans were about to cede control of Congress to the Democrats for the first time in 12 years, and a little tv show called Heroes had caught the nation’s imagination before jumping the shark a season later (because, really…West? That kid sucked). And your humble narrator had just ended a 5-year relationship because he didn’t follow his lady love to grad school, choosing instead […]
Nov 12th, 2008 by DJ Hostettler
2008 Nohl Fellowships announced
Bobby Ciraldo and Andrew Swant of Special Entertainment: two of the gazillions of filmmakers who had money thrown at them yesterday. Just kidding! Yesterday, UWM’s Peck School of the Arts announced grantees of the 2008 Mary L. Nohl Fellowships, and to our collective surprise here at VS HQ, fully five of the seven awards went to … filmmakers. In a town increasingly notorious for its thriving film community, it’s tempting to see this as a kind of coup d’etat. The press release follows, and I’m sure we’ll hear lots from VITAL Source bloggers and the wider Milwaukee arts commentary world about the jury’s decisions. Last year there was controversy when it was suggested that not enough women were represented in the show; will the arts community feel this year that the scales have been tipped too unfairly toward artists working in film and new media? And will the gender issue come up this year as well, as once again, only two of the nine selected artists are ladies? Excerpts from the press release, including artist bios, follow. Each established artist receives a grant of $15,000; emerging artists receive $5,000. The 2007 Nohl Awards show is currently on exhibit at Inova/Kenilworth and will be up until January 18, and I highly recommend a visit – the show is fabulous. Congratulations to all y’all! MARY L. NOHL FUND FELLOWSHIPS FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS AWARDED Funded by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund and administered by the UWM Peck School of the Arts in collaboration with Visual Arts Milwaukee! (VAM!), the Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individual Artists provide unrestricted funds for artists to create new work or complete work in progress. The program is open to practicing artists residing in the four-county area (Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington counties). The Mary L. Nohl Fund also supports a Suitcase Fund for exporting work by local artists beyond the four-county area. The panel of jurors included Valerie J. Mercer, the first curator of African American art and head of the General Motors Center for African American Art at The Detroit Institute of Arts; Laurel Reuter, director and chief curator of the North Dakota Museum of Art; and Eva González-Sancho, director of the Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain – Région Bourgogne (FRAC Bourgogne) in Dijon, France. The panelists were in Milwaukee October 30-November 1 reviewing work samples and artists’ statements and visiting the studios of the six finalists in the Established Artist category. Established Artists BRENT BUDSBERG & SHANA McCAW Shana McCaw and Brent Budsberg have collaborated for the past seven years constructing site-specific sculptural installations and performances. Their recent work focuses on realistic architectural miniatures utilizing narrative and mood to transform a site. Both are also founding members of the WhiteBoxPainters, a performance art group specializing in public projects. McCaw was born in Dubuque, IA and received an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI in 1999. She currently teaches at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and Cardinal […]
Nov 11th, 2008 by Amy Elliott
Song Sung Blue
Milwaukee rallied for one (or a few dozen) of its own last night – almost 1000 people showed up for the local premiere of Song Sung Blue, a documentary by Greg Kohs about local legends Lightning & Thunder, a husband-and-wife Neil Diamond tribute duo. Milwaukee Film literally rolled out the red carpet for the crew and much of the cast, notably Claire “Thunder” Sardina, who stepped out of her limo in a fabulous scarlet sequined gown just as we arrived at the theater. VITAL was there in full force along with hundreds of community luminaries and personalities. The film, though tragic, is joyous and exultant, an eloquent, oddball testimony to the power of love and of music and performance. The entire VITAL team – a hard-scrabble handful of toughies – was choking back tears at the end of the night. Song Sung Blue – which has won major film festival awards around the country – certainly stands alone as a beautiful piece of documentary cinema, but seeing it in Milwaukee was extra-special. Walking back to the car in the rain we ran into Dancing Queen and Dancing Machine, whose maniac moves were featured briefly in the film: And of course, at the after party at Shank Hall, where we crowded around the bar talking heatedly about this week’s monumental election, we were graced by the presence of Thunder herself, who gave a rousing performance with another Neil Diamond impersonator (“We call him ‘Frightening,’” Thunder said) as well as Dave Alswager, Mark Shurilla and the Greatest Hits. And maybe the best part: I hadn’t realized it right away, but I spent most of the night sitting next to the bass vocalist of The Esquires, Milwaukee’s most famous soul band. When he was finally convinced to take the stage with the Esquires’ keyboard player, they joined the Greatest Hits for a stumbling – but perfectly triumphant – rendition of “Get On Up.” It was a good night for Milwaukee, and it made me proud to live here. More information on Song Sung Blue available here. Cheers!
Nov 7th, 2008 by Amy Elliott
99 Bottles Documentary in Milwaukee and Madison + Q&A with filmmaker Jason Williams! Read It Now!
99 BOTTLES a documentary about WI and Beer 4 shows on 4 different nights. Arrive 30 minutes before all show times for FREE Beer Tasting WHERE: Times Cinema (Milwaukee) WHEN: November 6-9 Thursday at 7:00pm Friday at 7:00pm Saturday at 7:00pm Sunday at 4:00pm WHERE Orpheum Theater (Madison) WHEN: Nov 13-16 Thursday at 7:00pm Friday at 7:00pm Saturday at 7:00pm Sunday at 4:00pm “99 Bottles Documentary” was created to promote exposure and public awareness of the rich and vibrant craft brewing industry. Visit the site for more details and the trailer: 99bottlesdocumentary.com What prompted a doc on beer? The producers David Oplinger and Glen Popple were interested in developing a project that was home grown. They were discussing ideas while taking down a few brews at Wolski’s Tavern. Glen relayed a story that his co-worker kept bugging him to make a documentary about craft breweries. “That is a great idea,” said Dave. The great part of the story is there was no such documentary made about this subject before. They decided to start asking the different breweries about the project and found out that all of them were thrilled to have their stories of history shared to the world, or at least in Wisconsin. How long did it take to shoot this doc? The documentary pre-production planning started in February simultaneously with shooting. The idea was to shoot the general “beer enthusiast” and ask their impression of the industry. One of the questions we asked was, “If you could ask a brewmaster anything, what would it be?” This lead to the list of questions that became the focal point of the interviews with brewmasters and owners. Principal photography lasted from February through May. The logistical issue was scheduling trips to other cities each week to get the necessary footage. We went as far as Sand Creek Brewing Co. in Black River Falls, which is 3.5 hours one way. War story to share? Crazy day during production? The biggest war story is the Premiere debacle. The gallant effort we choose was, shoot, edit, and distribute a full feature documentary within 6 months to the Harley Fest lovers. In the final day of editing for the premiere the Compressor failed to output a media file to burn a DVD. After repeated attempts the program crashed at about 20 to 30 minutes through each attempt. The thought was to work solid full time for 1.5 months to cut a feature documentary and deliver a show, but the luck wasn’t there. The lesson is “pick the show date last, not from the start”. The craziest day during production was obviously the above failed premiere. What are you working on next? Currently I’m working on 2 projects. I am in post for a short called “Indefinite”. The premiere of the trailer will be shown during the “99 Bottles Documentary” shows. “Indefinite” is a co-directed project with Christopher Kuiper. He will be penning a comic book series that ties in with the short. The other project […]
Nov 6th, 2008 by Howie Goldklang
The Morning After
So the Obama girls will get a puppy. And the nation gets to celebrate. Barack Obama’s astonishing victory was the result of a nearly flawless, extremely well-run campaign. He assembled a talented, loyal and disciplined team around him who planned and implemented a remarkably effective strategy based on a message of change and hope, and built a grassroots organization all across the country around a candidate who believed that voters would support someone who displayed leadership qualities including intelligence, poise and maturity. And it worked. John McCain delivered an excellent concession speech, praising the new president-elect, pledging his support, and calling for unity in this time of challenge. Obama’s acceptance speech was appropriately somber, leaving the joyful hosannas to others while keeping his focus on the hard work ahead. So the long, long campaign is over. But the hard work of governing is just beginning. Let’s take a brief moment to reflect on the significance of this election. Much has been said about how historic it is that our nation will have it’s first African American president. No question. However, what might be even more consequential, especially to the community of nations that looks to us to set an example, is that we have held an orderly if rambunctious election that has resulted in a change in the party in power during a time of war. This democracy stuff can be a messy but wonderful thing. You will recall the contentious 2000 election sent a similar message when the outcome took weeks and a Supreme Court decision to get resolved. Remember how proud we were that the conflict ended peacefully, even if we weren’t so happy with that outcome? Let’s hope this time turns out better for the country and the world. One of the key local challenges will be to build upon the awesome organization that was created in support of candidate Obama. People turned out in droves to contribute their time and energy to elect someone they believed in. It will be difficult to maintain this organization without a specific focus or goal. But that’s our responsibility and there is no shortage of needs on the local scene. The overwhelming support of the sick leave referendum by voters in the city of Milwaukee despite the opposition of Mayor Barrett and the business community is an exciting example of the potential of such a people power movement. I find this recent trend by our political leaders to pass the buck on the pressing issues of our day by asking voters to tell them what to do through referendum to be very disturbing and cowardly. If you run for office, you are asking voters to place their confidence in you. Earn your salary by making those decisions or get out of the way and let someone else do it. One of the dangers of government through referendum is that voters may not take the time to analyze issues and may be susceptible to well-funded ad campaigns. Fortunately, the sick leave […]
Nov 6th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Finally!
Last night I had dreams of every strange breed: that I slept through the election, that I couldn’t same-day register, bombs at the polls, that I voted on a Barack Obama/Bob Dylan ticket. I woke up every hour, jittery, and had to force myself to go back to sleep. At six in the morning, by the dusky morning light and an unseasonable breeze, I pulled myself out of bed and into some decent-looking clothes to the reassuring rumblings of NPR. A few weeks ago, I thought about voting early, but I like, sentimentally, the flush of civic excitement and public activity, the coming-alive of some sort of town square. I walked across the park through piles of fallen yellow leaves and met my friends across from the Cass Street School. I gave them apples and they handed me a big mug of just-brewed coffee, and at 6:45 am, we stood in line, which was already halfway down the block. In 30 minutes we were inside the building amidst wall murals of inexplicably frowning sad-faced fish and funny school posters (“What about cigarettes?”). We voted in the gym. The halls were still empty, but by the time we reconvened outside the buses were arriving, and crowds of yelling children were descending upon the school, skirting the line of voters that was now snaking around the block. While I was changing my address at the registration table, the election officiant helping me looked up from our papers and said, “Here comes big T.B.!” I turned in my chair to face the gymnasium doors and sure enough, there he was, with his one-man security detail: THE MAYOR! It was an enchanting, hassle-free, feel-good morning (with a nice, sunny boost from the warmest election day temperatures in more than 40 years). Four years ago it was raining and I was clutching my heart with anxiety and a trenchant sense of disappointment; today, the mood has been overwhelmingly enthused, excited and perhaps preemptively celebratory. I’ll take it. I’m glad I voted in person. I’m glad I voted. The adrenalin that surged me through this morning is thinning, but I’m still so thrilled!
Nov 4th, 2008 by Amy Elliott
Crossover Appeal
By Erin Wolf, DJ Hostettler and Amy Elliott Photos by Erin Landry No musician is an island, and in the music biz, it’s all about who you know, whether you’re a mainstream corporate unit-mover or a DIY street punk. Even the rare musician who does it all – writing, designing, photographing, recording, mixing, mastering, promoting, booking and fixing – needs to collaborate to stay fresh (and sane). And in Milwaukee, “it’s who you know” tends to take on an egalitarian, community-based context. You can have the songs, the chops and the style, but what do you do when you need band photos – and everyone needs to be in front of the camera? We caught up with four local musicians and the local artists, photographers, technicians and production teams that help them get the job done to discuss their working relationships and the friendships they’ve formed. We may not have built this city on rock and roll, but in the end, it’s all about the love. The mechanics of instrumental romance “I’ve screwed up my guitars plenty of times,” says Quinn Scharber, head of Milwaukee four-piece Quinn Scharber and The … “I can specifically recall winding my strings backwards on the tuning pegs multiple times in my younger days.” Quinn started playing on his brother’s cheap electric guitar, then got an acoustic, which he still uses, when he was sixteen. “I’m glad I started on electric, because all I really wanted to play at that time was ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by Led Zeppelin, and that song is pretty hard to rock on an acoustic guitar.” ‘Rocking’ a guitar can take its toll. Constant strummings, pickings, tunings, jolts, cable ins and outs, amp fry-age and normal bumps and bruises require maintenance and repairs. Scharber’s first experiences in instrument mechanics came up short. “I think the first time I had work done on my guitar was when I was in college and I needed the electronics replaced on it … They charged me a lot and I had to take it back in two times to get it done right,” he recalls. Scharber soon started to shop around, and found a trusty and skilled ‘guitar mechanic’ in Jeff Benske of Top Shelf Guitar Shop in Bay View. “I just stopped in there one day about five or six years ago with [bandmate] Thom Geibel when we were having a ‘let’s go check out some guitars’ day. I’ve pretty much been hanging around Jeff’s shop and pestering him with questions ever since.” Says Benske of his first impression of Scharber, “He started off buying the usual parts and then came in with some non-standard projects … some custom stuff,” he said. Quinn’s whip, a tricked-out Epiphone Casino, hasn’t changed over the years. “We’ve done the electronics in it, and it’s set up just the way he wants it.” Scharber appreciates the work that Benske has done with his Epiphone. “I take my guitars to Jeff because he’ll do it right the first time, […]
Nov 1st, 2008 by Amy Elliott
We’re all in this together
Occasionally I find myself in the awkward position of having to file this column in the figurative hours just before a momentous event. This time, of course, it’s the race between Barack Obama and John McCain for the presidency. I could have gone ahead and predicted the ’04 elections and written from that perspective, and I think I can predict this one. But in this sense, I’m not much of a risk-taker. So if you’re reading this after November 4, understand that this was written in October and check this space in December, where I might share some thoughts on the election. Then again, I might be as weary of the whole thing as you, ready to move on and just see what comes next. On second thought, I’m pretty sure I’ll be all done thinking about the election by December, so I won’t bore any of us with ruminating further on the implications of its outcome – you hereby have my solemn promise on that. But I can’t guarantee that I won’t still be thinking about the mess we’re in and how we’re going to get out of it. Barring the end of the world, I believe we can recover from this, even if the global power structure shifts dramatically. We may not come out on top of the super-power dog pile in the end, but either way it’s going to take a few years before we can tell how things are going to shake out. And whatever form the new world order takes, it, too, will be impermanent. Just ask the Macedonians. For years I’ve been obsessing over the now-arrived (and amazingly predictable) financial market collapse. I’ve been writing about our dangerously over-valued economy since 2003 and moved my money (what little there is of it) to CDs and long-term growth funds in 2006. I’ve only ever borrowed $500 against my house (to help pay for new gutters) and I drive a 1996 Corolla that’s been paid off for ten years and gets 35 mpg in town. I don’t have cable and my kids don’t freak out about hand-me-downs. Sure, my business could go belly-up in 2009 (though things look stable right now), but if it does, we had a good run and I’m probably qualified for some sort of job that will keep food on the table and a roof over our heads should VITAL’s little house of cards be blown away by the winds of changing fortune. Am I pessimistic? Absolutely not, in part because in my studies, I’ve learned at least one thing: nobody is invulnerable. A recent decline in demand for Chinese steel, coupled with stagnant or falling fossil fuel consumption in many developed countries, has driven oil prices down to less than $100 per barrel (at this writing). OPEC responded recently by signaling it would cut production to stabilize prices, but Saudi Arabia, the world’s single largest oil producer, broke ranks and declared it would continue with plans to increase production, partly to […]
Nov 1st, 2008 by Jon Anne Willow
The Final Chapter
By Matt Wild PART 1 If you’re a frequent victim of the Milwaukee County Transit system, you’re faced with countless indignities while riding the bus: hostile passengers, inane and never-ending cell phone conversations, a smell that could only be described as a mixture of B.O. and quiet desperation. Yet it seems to me that the most insidious evil one encounters is Transit TV, a dumping ground for cringe-worthy “moving entertainment” (I’m looking at you, Clever Cleaver Brothers), as well as a warm, fuzzy blanket for mouth breathers who like to play along with the Pat Sajak puzzle games. Mostly, Transit TV is nothing more than a series of out-of-context quotes from such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin, Martin Luther King, Jr., and, um, Steven Wright. Recently, one caught my eye. “I think knowing what you cannot do is more important than knowing what you can do. In fact, that’s good taste.”— Lucille Ball Putting aside the fact that I’ve never cared for Lucy – placing her in the “Just Don’t Get It” category along with hardcore animal pornography and John McGivern – it’s a quote that really struck a nerve. For the past 18 (!) years, I’ve defined myself, in one way or another, by my band, Holy Mary Motor Club. Though I never really admitted it out loud (talking about your band is never in good taste), it’s defined me just the same. But in the last few months or so, I’ve taken the former Mrs. Desi Arnaz’s advice and owned up to the fact that being in a band is something I’m not very good at: I’m a terrible singer, a hopeless guitar player and a mediocre songwriter at best. So instead of subjecting myself (and others) to further torment, I recently decided to put my band aside and concentrate on things I’m actually good at, like, I don’t know … needlepoint? All of this is a long way of saying that here we are at VITAL’s annual music issue, and for the first time in three years, I find I have little to say. Looking back at my past “Milwaukee Music Scene™” columns, maybe I never did. If I could offer up any sort of analysis, however, it would be this: the MMS™ is fine, just as wonderful and lousy as it’s always been. The recent rise of Turner Hall and the Pabst Theatre has been something of a mixed blessing, bringing in top-tier indie bands that normally would have avoided Milwaukee while at the same time leaving local joints like the Cactus Club and Mad Planet booking the same local bands every other week (I’m looking at you, John the Savage). At any rate, the scene seems to be in need of a big change, as a lot of the old musical mainstays – as well as the folks behind the scenes – are getting a little long in the tooth. Put simply, things seem to be running on fumes. Or does it just seem this way […]
Nov 1st, 2008 by Matt Wild
Smoked Out
In celebration of America’s annual Great American Smoke Out, join VITAL Source and our fabulous host, Milwaukee’s legendary Cactus Club, for “Smoked Out: A Great American Rock Show.” Yeah, it’s kind of tongue-in-cheek, given that you’ll be spending the evening in a bar in Bay View (read: NOT smoke-free), but play along with us and come down for one last sweaty, all-out hootenanny before you get swallowed by the holidays and all the requisite insanity that comes along for that ride. Just five dollars gets you through the door for one amazing lineup: Celebrated Workingman IfIHadAHiFi Canyons of Static Plus between-set spins by DJ How of the Establishment. Wow. You can’t beat that with a stick. So don’t. Just be there. Saturday, November 15 9 p.m., 21+ CACTUS CLUB 2496 S. Wentworth Ave. Milwaukee
Oct 30th, 2008 by Vital Archives
