Weathering Well

The electronic atmospheric music wizard ‘Tycho’, aka Scott Hanson has launched himself into unknown territory with his fifth album, “Weather”. The new album is a dramatic step forward as it features vocals from ‘Saint Sinner’; this is uncharted waters for Scott as he has only previously released instrumental bodies of work. However, it seems that the change of direction has proven a big step forward for the artist; both fans and critics have fully supported the artist as the sound has grown along with the venue sizes.  I believe this could be the tipping point for Scott to become the next global phenomenon DJ if he would so choose to continue this trajectory. 

Naturally, the show must travel just like the “Weather”. Luckily for me one of the shows of the world tour landed in my city, Madison, Wi. The support act ‘Poolside’ excited the crowd enough before ‘Tycho’ and his live band step forward from the shadows. Starting off with a classic song of “Awake” energized the crowd into ‘Tycho’s’ mantra. Although there was little communication from the artist to fans they were rolling through the ‘Tycho’ discography with ease. It truly was an visual and audio pleasures to witness the music come alive in this perfect atmosphere.

 

Felicidades Los Dells

 Congratulations Los Dells for another fantastic and ever expanding festival.

Now into its third year this ever expanding festival features music from across the Latin music spectrum and beyond. This year’s headline acts, playing across Saturday and Sunday were global touring musicians, ‘Logic’ and ‘Ozuna’.  Both acts delivered on their headlining position, closing out the festival with a bang.

Elsewhere across the festival the fiesta continued across four stages with giveaways, art displays and food all promoting Latino and South American culture. Hidden away in an idyllic little town of Mauston did not stop guests travelling from across the Midwest and beyond to taken in ‘Los Dells’. Many of the other artists played to their hearts delight receiving with all artists receiving a warm welcome on stage. Highlights for me came from ‘Fuego’ who rapped his way through a great set and ‘Ximena Sarinana’ who lead the party with her hits. It was also a pleasure to be invited to two bonus sets on Friday night pre festival to see a neat warm up show.

Overall, the festival is very much still in its infancy with a light attendance record and few art/food places to actually check out it left some people feeling empty, especially when the charge for a two day ticket is roughly $159. With that being said it is a relaxed and holistic festival that showcases the best Latino acts worldwide, festivals are very costly to set up these days so the cost reflects that. Personally I would absolutely recommend this festival as one to experience; hopefully as it grows it will be the staple to end the summer time fun in the Wisconsin Dells. 

Now enjoy a short picture gallery of the weekend...

 

Enter through the Lotus Gate

Welcome to the growing world of 'Kainalu' as we step through the 'Lotus Gate' into his lost world. After following the artist 'Kainalu' aka Trent for a couple of years now, I have seen his impact and music grow organically in the local scene. It has been a joy to soak in his soft hypnotic rhythms at every live show and to finally see him release his first body of work, the album 'Lotus Gate'. This eight track album/EP showcases his best work to date and has already been getting national attention, being compared to 'Tame Impala' & 'Tycho' to name a few. It was amazing to see him pull in a great crowd to watch him release this audio baby into the world at the High Noon Saloon on the 20th of June. 

Starting the night off was a funky foursome from Minnesota that went down a storm on the unsuspecting crowd. They fired through songs of their debut album and new EP, 'Glow' including the very catchy 'SMS' making sure everyone was involved with their grove. As the crowd grew so did their energy as they made a great impression for this first ever successful Madison show.

With that said most people were here to watch the rise of 'Kainalu' putting out all the stops to make this not just a show but an experience everyone can feel from start to finish. From older songs 'Folds Like  Origami' to newer ones, 'Lotus Gate' you are drawn through the 'Louts Gate' into the open yet peaceful world of 'Kainalu'. Trent and his amazing live band delivered a mesmerizing set full of highs, my personal favorite from the night was, 'How Do I Let Go Of You' receiving rapturous applause from everyone present. To me the set and his album are not just a bunch of songs they are full pieces of art flowing with passion and charged energy. It will be exciting to see where his path goes next, now I invite you to step through the Louts Gate and get lost in this secret world.

Always A Day To Remember

I could be biased but 'A Day To Remember' are one of the coolest band on the planet. They have become one of them rare bands to rise from their own scene, "metal" and create a unique sound which appeals to everyone. From the heavy breakdowns to soothing ballads, singalongs to all round fun guys. This was the third time seeing the band but first time headlining their own show and it seriously was headline worthy.

The day for us started with some drinks in the sun and food at 'The Old Distillery' which could do with some improvement when it comes to food, it was either bland or overpowered garlic, but $3 beer is always helpful. Once we finished up all fresco we took the small walk to The Slyvee, still in its infancy as a venue but certainly not from the acts that have come through the doors, selling out shows every week it seems! Tonight was no different with the 'Raising Hell In The Heartland' tour. 

The first band to start the show was a UK band, 'Boston Manor', who I have interviewed many moons ago on a street in my home town, it is good to see how far they have come. There show reflected that ethos as well, working as a tight knit group of brothers playing passionate radio friendly rock. Second support tonight was, 'Knocked Loose' a raw energetic bunch of guys looking to cause trouble. Their sound is heavy and rough around the edges, not something i can get into live but okay to have briefly on a playlist.

Then it was time for the show to get kicked up a notch! From the get go, 'ADTR' were not going to take this tour/set lightly, they went all out playing hit after hit from their full discography. What excited me most was the amount of tracks they played off their official debut album, 'Homesick' an amazing and ever playable album to play on full. The band had everyone in the small venue captivated and on board with letting loose, giving out t-shirts, getting a fan on stage for their birthday and an emotional acoustic sing along for good measure. The show was one of the most memorable I have ever been to and I was drunk! Thanks to 'ADTR' for giving us a night to remember. 

 

Famous Last Words from The Annex

The mid west is hotting up this summer season, there are lots of huge shows for 2019 coming through the Madison area, especially at The Annex/Red Zone which recently saw, 'Famous Last Words' grace the doors. 

Celebrating the 10th anniversary as a band, 'Famous Last Word' lead vocalist (JT) feels "like [it has been] a long road, that has tested" him but still would not give up the feeling of writing music, being on the road and playing to crowds of fans. JT's passion for music started with the discovery of musicals and continues to adore them to this day, "my favorite musical would be a hard one to pick but one that inspired one of our albums was Phantom of the Opera". Just like the dramatic production of musicals, JT likes to ramp up the adrenaline when putting on their own show.

The show at The Annex was no small show, housing six bands on one stage. The local openers were 'Waiting For Reason' & 'Of Brighter Skies' two strong acts that I will be checking out in the near future as they made their presence known. The start of the travelling acts was, 'At My Mercy' a very young band both physically and on the scene they sound like they are still finding their sound and stride but a valiant effort. 

The next support was looking to steal the show, 'Awake At Last' arrived with their huge hooks and chorus, similar to the likes of early 'Set It Off' and later 'Slaves'. We spoke to the front man (Vincent) about what makes the band tick. "The music [we play] comes from us as a band wanting change, we want people to do the same as us, to follow their dreams, to keep pushing themselves froward, to hopefully make the world a better place." Like the last few words dictated, they are not about changing little things they want to make a big difference to a lot of people, not just from the music but though their live shows as well, "the real connection with our music is through the live shows, where we can hopefully build a movement". They more than proved that with their set tonight, although it was short they delivered on every level connecting with a lot of fans.

The final support act to play was the veterans called, 'Dayshell' a well rehearsed show drawing in a large crowd, as per usual they delivered a great set. Then it was time for the headliners, 'Famous Last Words' to wrap the show up with a career spanning montage of scream along tracks. It will not be long again before they are ready to rock the stage as they will be back here in August for another hot show with Oh, Sleeper. 

There is only one thing i can say, with these famous last words... it would be, pre-order Awake At Last debut album, out June 25th!

A Believer of Brat Fest.

The World Famous Brat Fest returns to the sacred grounds of Alliant energy center for a fun weekend for all the family. Thankfully, the weekend remained dry and warm for the thousands that came to eat up their brats with all profits going to local charities, they managed to sell upwards of 200,000. Awesome figures, as always there was also a large number of attendees at the site as well as Brats at work day, again raising so much money for amazing causes.

As well as the great brats there is the great music of local and national talent. Due to working I was only able to soak in the Friday highlights. A band that I have wanted to see for a while, Smashmouth headlined the main stage of the night bringing everyone together in a mass singalong. Although the band has gotten older since their nineties and naughtiest fame, they did not bring out an old act. They played an exciting show full of energy, delivering tracks from their whole back catalog, as well as some fresh new sounds. The highlight from the night was the double singalong whammy from, 'I'm A Believer' & 'Allstar'. With the famous Shrek song of believer bringing in a flash mob of people dressed up as Shrek characters. This will be a night families will remember together until next year. 

Northwoods growing tall

Northwoods only just came on my radar this year and hearing their double A side singles, I liked them so much I sent the five piece from Boston, Massachusetts, some questions to answer, enjoy below.

 

 

1/ Please introduce yourself and what you bring to the band. 

Zach – vocals

Anthony – guitar

Nacho – guitar

Jon – bass

Derek – drums

2/ To help people to get know you more, what would be the main reason you play and write music?

 Zach – I write music because it's a passion for me. There's so much expression that goes into it, and release that emotion and connect with the audience is just truly special.

Anthony – emotional outlet, to connect with people, to express myself, to create beauty, to cope, for love of music

Nacho – I play and write music for the mere sake of it, to express something that's inexpressible through plain words, to bring out whats deep inside my subconcious

Jon – to create something I love and am proud of, to travel and meet people

Derek – I'm not much of a songwriter, but I'm always chasing the emotional release and human connection that performing music can bring

3/ Your debut EP came out two years ago, how have things changed individually and as a band since then? Would you change anything if you went back to making the first EP again?

We've all become much better musicians since the EP. We're so much better at writing music than we were back then, both individually and as a unit. If we were to do that EP now it would probably sound a lot different, but we're definitely proud of it and excited about the opportunities it has given us.

4/ What would be one stand out or positive moment from the start of the band till present?

Oh man, there's been so many great moments (and a lot of not so great moments that come along with it).Its always really special when this band enables us to visit new places and meet new people. You also can't top the feeling of seeing people sing along, no matter how many shows you play.

5/ The band has worked with a lot of other great touring bands over the few years, would you say you have a favourite or one you connected with the most? 

We've become pretty good friends with Young Culture and Belmont. Both of those bands are going to really blow up in the next couple of years. Make sure you check them out if you haven't yet.

6/ If you could pick any living band to share the stage with who would it be?

Zach – Bring Me the Horizon

Anthony – Counterparts

Nacho – Nickelback

Jon – Bring Me the Horizon

Derek – Touche Amore

7/ You just released a double edge single of delight, on love//on loss. Could you not pick between your preferred single? Why did you release it that way? 

These are stand alone singles, not tied to any larger release. We really wanted to create two songs that contrasted musically and lyrically, yet fit nicely together. We wanted to keep the contrast of “Ebb & Flow” going and these songs are meant to bridge the gap between that EP and our next release.

8/ What was the process when writing and producing these singles?

We wrote a demo version of On Loss nearly two years ago before we had even released the EP. When we went into the studio for production with our friend Charlie Abend in Lowell, MA we ended up writing On Love almost entirely in the studio. The tracks then got sent over to Jay Maas for mixing and mastering. These songs have a long process behind them and we're so excited to finally show them to the world.

9/ Speaking of the titles of the tracks, what and when did you last lose/ felt love for something? 

Zach – The last loss I experienced was a family friend that was a part of the local music scene, Ike May, who was the singer/guitarist for my cousins band A Common Goal. The first local shows I attended were theirs.

10/ Being from Boston, MA. Please represent your area where is good to go hang out, see, eat, etc. Also what is the local scene like? 

The local scene in Massachusetts is solid, lots of variety and great people. Hangout at the Quincy Quarries and Lynch Skatepark. Eat at Maggianos, Tacos Lapita, The Plough & Stars, and South St Diner. Also be sure to check out Northwoods' new favourite spot; Twisted Escape Room.

11/ Any famous last words/comments...

Yeeeeeeeehaw

 

Check out more from the band here: https://www.facebook.com/NorthwoodsNewEngland/