Nothing But Memories

After watching the band Nothing But Thieves support my favourite band back in 2013, I knew they were special. They delivered a beautiful set of songs from their lyrics to soaring vocals they were captivating from the get go. Since then they have toured around the world more than once and released two albums. All of this has been possible to their growing fan base and huge stadium filling songs. Unfortunately for me I have only been able to observe this growth and success from the outside by purchasing music and watching videos online. So when my new favourite band announced a USA tour, I had to jump at the chance to see them again, almost 4 years later! I booked a hotel and a 5 hour Megabus trip to the local show before organising interviews with the band and support acts. This was going to be Nothing But Memories, sorry couldn’t resist.  

As I set off on my musical journey to Minneapolis from Madison, we stopped in my in-laws town of Mauston. I was gutted I couldn’t get off the bus and check in with them but alas the journey continues. The journey itself was smooth and quiet, free wifi and a place to charge the phone. Once I got to the city I had an hour or so to take some quick sunset pictures before heading to the venue. The venue was ‘The Fine Line Music Cafe’ it seemed like a modern music venue, not much

character but very welcoming and laid out well. Before the first band hit the stage I managed to organise an interview with second support band ‘Missio’ from Austin, Texas. A great duo act who are into crafting huge pop songs, similar to ‘Imagine Dragons’ or a heavy ‘Foster The People’. However, unlike the huge scale of the songs, the two guys themselves are humble and polite. As we chilled out in the basement of the music cafe, we chatted about their rise to the stage, talking about their formation to first album “it has went from 0-60 really quick”, “there has been a real buzz about it and we can see it growing with more Loners” (‘Missio’ fans name). When ‘Missio’ played their set you could see the love and energy from the crowd, as a lot of people were singing along whether they liked it or not. Their live show is full of energy and magnitude; hopefully it won’t be too long until their touring on their own.

In a Tarantino flip, I finished my chat with ‘Missio’ and headed up to see UK support act, ‘Airways’. The band was on stage romanticising the American audience into their way for the English language, “init mate”. ‘Airways’ were also another band I interviewed that night and a refreshing change to talk with people from my motherland. Although their set was pretty placid, their sound is very visceral and natural, meaning no effects needed. To date they have crafted a handful of tracks that all pack a punch and feature on the debut EP, ‘Starting To Spin’. Lyrically they are beautifully written over a bed of gnarly rock and roll guitars; think of early ‘Arctic Monkeys’ and you won’t be far from who they are. As I descended to the basement with half of Airways we chatted about the tour, USA living and more tracks to come. “We hopefully have a new single coming out in the New Year, which we have been playing live on this USA tour. There are a lot of songs written but a lot to sort out before we can release it as a body of work”. And understandably so as I think albums can’t be just released by artists these days, they need to be teased and held back as they gather momentum from a massing fan base.

To move onto the main attraction for the night I headed down to side of stage to watch the Essex boys do it again, four years later. Not only did they deliver but surpass my expectations as they know all their instruments and responsibilities inside and out. They ploughed through a mixed set of 19 hits from the first and second album, no easy feat to sustain the energy for that long but they did it with hardly any sweat. Starting with, ‘I Am Not Made By Design’ and finishing off in style with their huge single ‘Amsterdam’. The band even added in a fan favourite to the Minneapolis set list, ‘Honey Whiskey’ after people chanting it for the second time in this venue. For the bands first encore, lead man Connor took centre stage on his own. He played a brilliant cover song before launching into ‘Hell Yeah’, demonstrating that he still knows his instrument despite focusing more on the lyrics and vocals these days. As the almost sold out crowd disappeared from the venue it was already clear this band are at the start of the rest of their career on the road around the world. With a show already confirmed at the bigger and legendary venue of, ‘First Avenue’.

As the rest of the band hung around to sign my stuff after the show and talk to fans, Connor took an early night to rest the now iconic vocal cords. As for the rest of my journey I managed to make it safely to my student house/hotel for the night. An old classic wooden house was cosy and warm for the price but did have thin walls and squeaky floor boards. Not the best when I jumped into bed to hear some girl moaning away like a porn film was being shot next door. Thankfully, I fell asleep quickly and before you know it, I was exiting, taking sunrise pictures and on the Megabus back to Madison. The journey was certainly an experience as the first and hopefully only road trip on my own in America.

As for a closing remark on the show, ‘Nothing But Thieves’ continue to grow as mature musicians. From their sophomore album (‘Broken Machine’) to live shows they have found their own niche and voice in the music world. The world stage is before them and they will continue to make it their conquering one venue at a time, so ‘U2 & Coldplay’ better be willing to share their arena tours in the not too distant future.

  

 

 

 

 

Beer & Cheese? Yes, please.

What do you need to be a Wisconsinite? Some would say chomping on home grown cheese washed down with a bottle of local beer, while watching a Packers football game. To an extent they would be right, after living here for almost a year this is something that I have not only become accustomed to but love about Wisconsin, as it is rich in home grown flavours and food heritage. With that in mind, it is not strange then to continually host delicious food festivals throughout the year and what better way to start the year than with one of the biggest, Isthmus Beer & Cheese festival is back on Saturday the 20^th of January 2018.

This year it continues to hold its ground by offering samples from over 100, yes 100 breweries from across the nation including many from local companies like, Great Dane/Capitol/Leinenkugels/Lombardi and so many more! The beer serves as a good chaser to the many food options available as well, with dairy companies offering out samples of their finest cheeses. More cheese companies are to be announced at present but so far the list does include Wisconsin’s own ‘Edelweiss Cheese’ and ‘Cesar’s Cheese’. Entertainment is also present from the dueling pianos who are two talented individuals ready to play all your requests.

The price for tickets is $50 without fees and does include a goody bag and unlimited samples from whatever you want. Tickets are on sale and sure to sell out, as they have done in years gone by so check them out and kick off the New Year with a weekend to remember.

Freaky Times In Wisconsin.

There are shows that come and go but others that grow. Like a zombie rising from the grave, Freak Fest is quietly and confidently becoming one of the go to festivals on the Mid West circuit. Just like the Majestic earlier this year it is also celebrating 10 years of putting on live shows. What better way to celebrate, than to bring out a host of talent, including hit rap artist, ‘DRAM’ and new rock legends, ‘Mutemath’. Although the festival falls on a hallowed weekend it is far from dark and dead. As the festival has a plethora of acts from all genres, across three stages as well as some great food on offer from all the local business on State Street! All the freaky fun is on Saturday the 28^th of October with prices just $10 from many local businesses, so pick them up now!

Find your best costumes, grab your friends and head on down to Madison for Freak Fest 2017, for a ghoulish night to remember.

The Majestic Reigns On

After 10 years of hosting live events, the Majestic is stronger than ever bringing the city of Madison more and more live acts. This summer the Majestic and Festival Foods presented a series of live events on King Street to mark a decade of music and entertainment.

The seven shows started in June with, ‘Dark Star Orchestra’ and ended with punk legends ‘Against Me!’. Unfortunately for me, my job did not allow me to enjoy any of these until the final event headlined by ‘Against Me!’. Even though I only got to one show it was defiantly worth it to see three touring bands hit the stage to play their heart out. The vibe of this night was certainly punk rock, starting off with a Canadian trio called ‘The Dirty Nil’, who I chatted to briefly before their set. As I met with their tour manager, I was led through the side door of the venue and up some stairs. In that brief moment of walking through the halls of The Majestic theatre I could feel the stories and history that have come from many a sold out night. After sitting down in the cramped dressing room of the support acts I was greeted with Luke, lead man of ‘The Dirty Nil’. Just like their live show the attitude coming from the band was one of confidence and passion. The music they have crafted so far is cool and evocative, which is probably why they recently won the Canadian Juno Award for Breakthrough Group at the 2017 Juno Awards. “I guess the Canadian panel finally came to their senses” discusses Luke in what seems to be a very electronic driven industry where in these days. As we discuss the awards and music, Luke hints at more music to come imminently along with maybe, collaboration with Laura Jane Grace (lead singer/song writer of Against Me!), which would be awesome. After we round up the brief chat (available on my autumn podcast) he rushes off to prepare for his set and I descend back towards King Street.

The live sets by ‘The Dirty Nil’ and second support, ‘Bleached’ were the perfect warm up acts. Delivering their own unique style and flavour to their set, offering both male and female vocals, they all played like it was the show of their lives. Speaking of shows of their lives ‘Against Me!’ were not about to hold nothing back. However, before they hit the stage there was a few touching announcements from staff at the Majestic thanking everyone who has worked or got involved with the venue in the past ten years. After the sentiment was concluded, ‘Against Me!’ finally hit the stage with a huge crowd pouring out of King Street to watch them in action. They played a hit filled set from their illustrious career of continued highs, starting with ‘True Trans Soul Rebel’ and finishing off in style with ‘Trash’. Check the image for the full set list as it was full of awesomeness, such an amazing act live and on record.

 

Not only did the night end with a bang but so did the summer series of shows, we look forward to next year but also to the next 10 years celebrating and enjoying THE Majestic Theatre.