This is American Music

Just saw Glossary, The Drams, Two Cow Garage and Grand Champeen here in Milwaukee. May have been one of my favorite shows ever.

The venue is one that I had not been to on the south side of Milwaukee called Club Garibaldi. Far from a dream club, it was perfect sized and the staff along with the regulars fit right in with the music.

How lucky are we that this show that only made it to 6 cities included Milwaukee? What a great deal. $8 for the door and beers were really cheap too. The bands were selling all their CD's and Shirts for $10. It made everything really affordable.

Each band played 4-5 songs then the next band jumped up and did the same. They went through the whole rotation twice and ended with everyone on stage for American Girl and Born to Run.

The Drams seem rougher around the edges these days and really had a nice sound. The regular guitar player was out as he wife just had their first kid so the other guitarists from the band filled in throughout the night. They did some stuff off Jubilee Drive and some Slobberbone stuff too. Also a new song that I cannot recall the name of that was my favorite from them.

Grand Champeen's sound did not transfer as well live in the rough and tumble setting of this show, but I grabbed their new CD 'Dial "T" for This' and it is really strong. There were some strong points in their two sets but I kept feeling like they would have a better showing if they could have the stage to themselves for 2 hours.

Two Cow has put out some of my favorite albums from this group of bands. I like that they have always stayed really rough and raw. However, the last 3 times I have seen them it has always been too loud and a little too messy. There are a few of their songs that absolutely rock live, and here they rocked even harder with extra guitars and vocalists on stage. I love their albums but struggle to enjoy the live stuff. That said, this was the best I have seen them live.

The show for me was all about Glossary. Somehow they are able to sound remarkably like their recorded work but still sound vibrant and live. Their performance was one of the best live performances I have ever seen. Everything could be heard clearly and the performance was brimming with energy. Just great. I am waiting on their next visit to Milwaukee or anywhere in driving distance.

I left the show energized to go home and write some music. That is what a great show does, makes you want to be in a band!

This is American Music.

(great photos of the Milwaukee show that I attended available at: You be the Mouse)