Frzn Fest Aims To Warm Up Madison This winter.

“Frzn Fest” is a relatively new kid on the block which is fitting for the acts it presents over the winter weekend. The festival showcases some of the best new acts both locally and nationally over two venues, “High Noon Saloon” and “Majestic”. Acts such as last year’s NoName and Big Thief have gone on to bigger stages and sell-out tours, as they grown their fan bases from these smaller but no less important and pivotal shows. When I worked over in the UK I personally witnessed a lot of emerging talent from amazing festivals like this, acts such as “The 1975”, “Ellie Goulding” or even “Mumford & Sons”.

Therefore, this festival is no different as it continues to grow both the industry and the scene, thanks to the partnership of “Heartland Credit Union” and “Frank Productions” who have put this great show on again. This year’s festival links can be found below; the events stretch over three nights with separate shows in each of the two venues, so you may be spoiled for choice. Personal highlights and recommendations from me is the European rockers, “Hinds” and “Slotface” appearing on the Saturday, as well as, new hip hopers, “Shredders”.

The fine print then would be that the festival takes place January 18^th until January 20^th 2018 and tickets are on sale now for one night or all three nights. If you purchase the very reasonable three day ticket you also get a souvenir hat to wear when travelling to the festival, or possibly whenever you are cold. That leaves me to say come one, come all and welcome in the New Year by discovering new and exciting emerging acts for 2018!

https://www.facebook.com/frznfest/ 

A Fhnominal FreakFest 2017!

 

For those that read my previous blog about “FreakFest”, you will know that this festival is into its 9^th year and was greater than ever. After some pre drinking and pre eating, we headed down to State Street to check out the sites and many costumes Madison has to offer. We did take a tumble as we head over one of the Capitol walls, but me and the Mrs. fell to the crowd in a roll around style. Instead of being in pain it turned out to be quite the humorous and romantic affair.

Back to the night, the first music we checked out was what we believed to be “The Begowatts”, a local act that dressed as turtles while playing an awesome pop punk set, warming the crowd up nicely. After more beer we then checked out “Mutemath” a national act that has been featured on a “Twilight” soundtrack and recent session with “Twenty One Pilots”. They played a show like it was their last ever, brilliant crowd interaction and sing alongs for all to join in. One of the sing alongs included a little girl, who we think was one of the band member’s daughters, sang along to a song and rocked her little heart out. Other highlights of the set include the band dressing up and the lead singer mattress surfing across the crowd while everyone sang their songs back to them. A great band I would defiantly check out again.

As we left that stage towards the main stage outside of Capitol Square, there were more costumes as ever and the best costume of the night. Two individuals dressed as the “Night King” and “Daenerys Targaryen” from “Game of Thrones” was precisely perfect in their Coplay and could be mistaken for the actual cast members. Unfortunatly due to time and money we were unable to dress up this year but hopefully next time as the planning for it has already begun. Another notable factor of this big event and State Street was the fact, not many businesses were involved in this night in terms of stands or open store fronts. The city and business could not only benefit from their involvement but it would mean that the ticket price would be more worthwhile from exclusive opening hours/offers.

 

As we hit the main stage “George Clinton” and friends were just finishing their set, leaving the crowd jumping around to the pop melodies and Halloween cheer. I managed to secure a photo pass for “FreakFest” meaning I got into the very large photo pit for main act “D.R.A.M.”, this provided me a place to get some great shots as ever but always leaves you feeling watched by a million eyes who are looking through you to see the stage. Nevertheless he put on a good show, with his charismatic smile and easy going tunes, showing off what he does with ease and style. I thought there would have been a more dramatic finish to the night and “D.R.A.M”’s set but once it finished things just quickly fizzled out as the crowd broke down. Hopefully with more investment and crowd in the future the shows will become grander. The only other problem with leaving at the end of the night was getting home. As ever with no public transport available (another problem with these big events) we had to use a cab or “Uber” in our case and this was $6 for a normal $6 trip plus about 15 minute wait. Needless to say we started the 3.5 mile journey on foot home until we got about a mile away we got one for $4.50 much better value and we walked off the pizza we had hahaha. Next we will pre book.

Overall, Freak Fest 2017 was a frightfully great time for a great price and we can’t wait for it to roll around again, hopefully we will have costumes this time, is boy scouts a good idea?

(PS the image is also a great costume couple but not us.)

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.

 

The Honeymoon Period

It feels like forever since I have written a personal blog and that would be because it has been a long time since writing one and much has happened, well enough to talk about.

Since the start of June I started work as a custodial (glorified cleaner) at the ‘University of Madison’ and ‘Burlington’ (discount store) work has been busy fitting everything in, but it feels good to be earning money again and paying my way, while still being well supported by my mum and my new in law family. The roles have been acceptable so far but certainly not getting paid enough as if I worked within the UK, but more on that later.

July seen us as newlyweds finally go on honeymoon to Florida mainly for the exceptional ‘Universal Studios’ theme parks. This ever expanding business now boasts three theme parks in total, ‘Universal Studios’, ‘Island of Adventure’ and new park ‘Volcano Bay’. This trip was also extra special as we had a good dose of UK accents and foods, including our friends from the U.K. that came to share the experience with us. Our trip started with me finishing work at night, before being whisked away with the wife to Milwaukee airport, two flights, one movie and a few snacks later we were in Florida. We already had a ride to our hotel organised which made it simpler, better still it was a friendly guy from Cuba, who hopefully convinced my wife to explore his native country in the future. The first day (arrival day) gave us enough time to check in to the average/good hotel and take the short walk to ‘Universal City Walk’. This was the entrance to the parks and housed lots of entertainment areas and stores for anyone that comes to visit as no ticket is needed for this area just strict security checks. The highlight from this area would have to be ‘The Chocolate Emporium’ a glamorous steam punk themed restaurant full of chocolate as you would guess, but also delicious and huge milkshakes ($12 each with free plastic jar); this is a must to do! Then we went for a brief introduction into ‘Universal Studios’ Main park to experience the Terminator show (very dated) and Simpsons ride (rather enjoyable).

The second day was perfectly setup as ever with a free hotel breakfast and a full tour of ‘Universal Studios’ with our friends from the U.K. Once we met up with them in the park we all marched on to the spellbinding ‘Harry Potter’ world of ‘Diagon Alley’ luckily we had an early entry pass (an essential purchase/upgrade!) so we could enjoy some of the sights with less people and jump on the magical rides before the huge lines began. The ‘Hogwarts Express’ train which runs from a fake Kings Cross train station in ‘Universal Studios’ to ‘Islands of Adventure’ is certainly an experience and worth checking out. Although you are riding an actual steam train the view from the windows is green screen and takes me back to being in England. The Kings Cross station is weirdly familiar to the actual one in London, which I have sat around in for hours on end. It even sells U.K. confectionary and displays may places I have visited on the time table boards, such details demands an applause. 

As the adventure and honeymoon continues, we discovered new areas, rides and food. All of it equally awesome and totally encompassing from the staff costumes to the music. However, the refreshments could be improved as quality does not match the price. It was great to have butter beer and a huge Simpsons donut but the “European food/breakfasts” we got were way off point. They served us fruit of melon pineapple etc with a croissant and a scone, nowhere near what us British have for breakfast. Moving from food to merchandise now and as you would expect there is a plethora of special and classic items in the various stores. One store I would recommend is the Island of adventure universal store or the stores in City Walk as they have big collections. As the Honeymoon started to wind down the excitement did not as we were always raring to go on the next day after only 5-6 hours sleep. We managed to take in some of the tourist trail in Orlando, visiting Ripleys museum and THE Hulk Hogan store.

Although we only got to enjoy the water park (Volcano Bay) for a brief period it was totally encompassing and brilliant in every way. Once you walk under the walkway to reach the new park the environment changes for the better and it feels like you are transported to the Caribbean. Navigating through the queue and beach huts takes little time before you are met with an impressive volcano towering over the skyline. The water park rides are also encompassing for all ages and fear levels, perfect for the summer sun. The only concern I would say for future travellers is the lockers are over priced at about $8 (for the day) when you should get one for free. Also you must get there early to get a good spot on the beach or to even get in as it reaches capacity really fast. Again merchandise and food can be pricey so stay smart and plan ahead.

We enjoyed the final night with our friends Mike and Katy by dangerously feeding the ducks in extrovert ways before being serenaded by opera singers in the couples beautiful makeshift hotel, which reflected Italy perfectly. This time, along with return the flight was a great chance to reflect and be thankful for what we have at the moment and what we have fought for as a couple. As Johnny Cash once sang ‘a richer man is someone without any money’. On that note the chapter of summer has closed on our first few months together, here is too many more, cheers to the newlyweds.