Heartless Bastards, Builders and Butchers, Peter Wolf Crier – Union Memorial Madison Free outdoor show on the shores of Lake Mendota

So, there were problems with the sound and the show started late. First up were Peter Wolf Crier. I didn’t really that much care for Peter Wolf Crier, my date Andrew said it best. I have a hard time respecting a band that doesn’t stand up.

Then came Builders and Butchers and frankly, was a little bummed there was a second act. Until about halfway through their second song. Then I was glad there was another band because they were really good. Buncha cool things about this band. Sometimes there were two drummers, it seemed like most people in the band could play three or four instruments, there was an electric banjo shaped like a metal guitar, the lead singer guy totally reminded me of a young Mike Barfield, red hair, great voice, nervous tick, seemed to be a very talented and versatile band. The Butcher and Builder sound is pretty much straight ahead rock, a tich on the Americana side, a tich on the folky side; I thought they might be friends of the Heartless Bastards from Austin but it turns out they are from Portland, which makes sense too.

The Heartless Bastards bared the brunt of the sound problems, by the time they hit the stage they monitors that the band uses to hear themselves were fried. Whatev, they were phenomenal. I saw them at the Overture Center, a top notch modern theater a year or so ago, 10 rows up, right in the middle and it was wonderful but this night, outside, with no monitors I understood why I like this band so much.  I will go out of my way to see Neko Case, and Sally Timms and Lucinda Williams about any time I can just to hear their voices, you can totally add Ericka Wennerstrom of the Heartless Bastards to that list. I thought while listening to the band that she doesn’t so much have a voice as she does an instrument, and what a beautiful instrument it is. As for the band, they were simply edgy and tight the two best things a band can be. Really an all around great performance in a really cool setting.

Then I went Metal – Pyroklast and Wartorn

Pyroklast is from Milwaukee and they are metal/hardcore. I had never heard them before and you know what? They are metal/hardcore. If you like metal/hardcore you will like Pyroklast, if not, well then probably not so much.

Wartorn could be my favorite local metal band. By local I mean, 2 Appletons, 2 Manitowocs, and a Madison. It starts off with the one of the Appletons, the Troll, Ryan who was seemingly born with a firm grip on what heavy is, from there the other Appleton, Tobin steps on it, the female Manitowoc The Lizard makes sense of it, the Madison, Hart, who has been my favorite drummer for a while, does what he does, plays like he’s on fire and the male Manitowoc Bitty screams over the top of everything. I’ve seen my share of metal and Wartorn is better than a lot of metal bands that have “made it” I can say that without any hesitation.

If you have your ear to the local scene at all chances are you will recognize the next two bands Holly and the Non Italians and Ian Olvera and the Sleepwalkers. They both get around town from time to time and are well worth checking out.

Holly and the Non Italians are a girl fronted pop band from Green Bay that plays catchy, well written songs. If your cool older sister had a band it would be Holly and the Non Italians.

Gifted songwriter Ian Olvera brings his talent to bear in the three piece Alt Country/Americana outfit Ian and the Sleepwalkers. I found myself watching what the bass player was doing and at one point thought the addition of a vocalist might not be a bad idea but at the same time, the songs hold up so nicely, maybe it isn’t necessary.

Technicolor Teeth – Problem Child

So, I was at a birthday party with bands and it turned out to be a lot better than I expected. Technicolor Teeth, a local three piece was on when I came in. Noisy, in a good way, in an indie, grungy, early 90’s Sonic Youth kind of way. It’s the kind of stuff that friends will try and turn me onto and when I listen to the record it doesn’t do much for me but then when I see them live, it’s like Oh! I get it, yeah this is cool. That’s how Technicolor Teeth felt for me. I don’t know there are a lot of bands that are doing what Technicolor Teeth are doing but I like it. I overheard a young lady talking to the guitar play and put it way more succinctly than I could. “You guys are intense…like camping.”

Then there was a cute boy who looks vaguely familiar but nobody could tell me who he was and he played for 10 minutes making weird noises mostly.

The last act was from Madison, Problem Child. Two nerdy boys making noise that didn’t suck. My notes from the night say, weird noise shit that required the patience and attention span of a stoner. I think that’s pretty accurate.

Lastly, as will happen from time to time, found myself in the greater Mackville area in the company of two honest to god Russians, a big polack, a woman with a huge rack and accordion tattooed on her ass and a gay man. We were taking in The Rim Shots, 4 elderly (in their 60’s) men who play Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings, and who play them well. From what I understand they play the Y Go By every other Sunday from 4 to 8, well worth the effort was the consensus opinion.

I’m Roxy Reno and it’s hotter than two bats screwing in a wool sock.

July 2010: Punk'd... on the road with Tenement

By Roxy Reno

Really, how punk rock can you be at 9 a.m.? I was about to find out. I embedded myself in the back of the van on a humid 90 degree day with three soon to be stinky punk rock boys, two iPods full of hardcore and free jazz and no AC (not the band, we had that} but it was all good except for the dead horse we spotted in the field near Eau Claire.

I’m hitching a lift with local power pop punk stalwarts Tenement. We are headed to Minneapolis for a house show and then off to downtown for a club gig with New Jersey’s best foot forward Screaming Females then a show the next day in Milwaukee. I’m the roadie.

A word about the van, a white 1992 Dodge caravan. The right front wheel does something weird when you turn hard, the mirrors are held in place by duct tape, there is a crack that is nearing the halfway point of the windshield, and a fuzzy spidery cocoon thing hovers above the navigator’s head that he wants nothing to do with and, as any good band van, it is covered, more or less, in other bands’ stickers, which at the first pit stop we are hoping the state trooper gassing up right next to us does not see the Millions of Dead Cops sticker practically staring him in the face. We are also hoping the tinted windows (another band van must) do their job in keeping said trooper from noticing the lack of rear seats where yours truly and bassist Jesse are freeballing it between an axle-grinding amount of gear.

With the exception of the dead horse omen, the trip goes smoothly. Lead singer and guitarist Amos is a damn fine navigator and we enter the Twin Cities easily. First on the itinerary, what is the consensus pick of punk rock records stores, Extreme Noise Records on Lake Street.

Extreme Noise has many things going for it. First of all it comes highly recommended. It’s centrally located, a hop skip and jump from the house show, scant minutes away from downtown, and in a great neighborhood which also houses the famous Bryant Lake Bowl. We hit the Noise and to a person, come away satisfied.

Next up, food. Amos and drummer Eric head for cheap subs, Jesse and I opt for cheap and ethnic in the Falafel King. We made the right choice. Big, tasty, varied and inexpensive, yum. Then it’s time to load in at the club. We are heading for the 7th Steet Entry, a punk rock club located directly beneath and connected to the famed 1st Avenue. Bad news is the club is located directly across the street from the Target Center and the Twins new baseball park, and, yup, there is a game just about to start. It’s a pain but it’s not that big of a deal. The good news is, as we load in, Screaming Females are doing their sound check. It’s really good.

Off to the house show, 8 bands and five bucks gets you all 8 and a cup for the ½ barrel in the kitchen. This reporter noticed a distinct lake of pot in the air, which was strange because it looked like a pot-smoking crowd. The venue for this event was a 2-story walk up right smack dab in the middle of a Somali neighborhood. I didn’t catch the full explanation of the neighborhood but was told to…how did he put it…”just make sure, like if you are at stop sign, just make sure the other guy stops, because the local population sometimes isn’t so hip to signage.” I was going to ask if that was the reason it seemed to me anyway, that everyone rode a bike to the show but that was explained later in the evening with a wink and a nod: “You’re not from here are you, everyone rides a bike.” That explained the monstrous bike path leading from the outlying neighborhoods into the heart of the city. It didn’t explain the huge green peace sign in the neighbor’s yard.

In case you might not be aware, house shows are part of the nationwide DIY scene. It’s a really cool thing. Basically people have small shows in their basements, garages and living rooms. Most of the time, from what I have personally witnessed, the people that have the house shows live at the house. They are usually BYOB and the cost is a donation that goes to the touring band, and bands do tour this way.

Tonight is one of the bigger house shows, in terms of bands anyway, that I’ve been to. There was Tenement representing Wisconsin, one from New York, one from California, a band from Bemidji and the rest were from the Minneapolis/St Paul area. It was fun and weird all at the same time. We did not get to see either of the touring acts but the bands we did see were competent and whatev, right?  75 weirdos and 8 punk rock bands – how can you go wrong.

At some point it’s time to head to the paying gig. Just a word about the staff at 7th street/1st avenue. Professional. The man running the show, Matt, was courteous, friendly and just had his shit together. I have been at a lot lesser venues where the people running the sound and such were arrogant a-holes just because they could be. This was in no way, shape or form, the case.

Speaking of people that could have been arrogant jerks but weren’t, Screaming Females were very cool, very down to earth people. Screaming Females are on the forefront of the punk DIY scene and are out to prove that it is a viable career path for aspiring musicians. They’ve been on extended tours with the likes of The Dead Weather, The Arctic Monkey and are currently out with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. Instead of comparing their sound to someone else I’ll just say they are a three piece fronted by this little ball of fury named Marissa who is scary good in more ways than one.

Nato Coles (used kids) new band opened and, man, where they tight. Really spot on, straight ahead rock. Tenement played like a meth addict with its hair on fire and Screaming Females were everything I could have hoped for.  

Roadie tip #1: Haul gear for a band that doesn’t drink. Not only does it make the drive a lot less harrowing, you get their drink tickets. Pabst tall boys were free and easy. Late night dinner and crash at a punk rock house (Nato hooked us up). Taking my duties seriously, I slept in the van guarding the gear. At the crack of noon we are back on the road headed toward Appleton for some reason that made sense at the time.

Jesse and drummer Eric then took the gear and split for Milwaukee while Amos and I followed in his 1984 Plymouth Valiant. Sweet ride. We listened to The Figgs for an hour and half straight.

Show was at the Why Not 3 on Milwaukee’s near north side. The bar downstairs was douchey with the exception of the velvet portrait of a young (20ish) William Shatner in his Star Trek uniform. The room upstairs was a total contradiction of the one below, all wood, cathedral ceiling; it looked like a sportsman’s lounge from the 1950s.  There was a band from New York that was just so so. Tenement blistered through their third set in three days and it was starting to show (in a good way), then there was a band from San Pedro called Stoned at Heart.  My notes say they were a cross between the Pogues and Social D; I know I was very impressed. Winding up the evening was a local act that is just getting back together called Chinese Telephones, fast and loose. They referenced the show by saying “we’re drunk and have not practiced” got to hand it to a band that tells it like it is.

15 bands in two days and what seemed like a million miles of driving with only a mild hangover to show for it, not bad at all. I’m Roxy Reno and if you’ve got gear to haul, I’m your gal.

P.S. Went to Steel Bridge Songfest in Sturgeon Bay this past weekend. Keith’s in Bellevue (although you wouldn’t guess by looking at it) is still in the running for friendliest bar in Wisconsin. Hotel Stebbins in Algoma best captain chair bar stool. I was within spitting distance of James McMurtry, Cherry Lanes is Cherry, Geri X from Atlanta via Bulgaria was the best band I’ve seen in a while and one day is simply not enough.