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| Photo courtesy of cardomain.com. |
We’ve all seen them. Four scruffy-looking youths flying down the highway in a beat up 1994 Dodge Ram van, feet out the passenger side window, with a tiny U-haul trailer (the 45 MPH speed limit sign very visible on the side) hanging on for dear life behind. These are no ordinary people. These are musicians on a mission from God.
For any musician, the lure of the tour is one of the ultimate band goals. And why not? Who wouldn’t be completely enamored by the sweet nirvana of spending countless hours driving in a smelly van, the holes in the floor giving you a unique perspective of America’s many very straight, very long highways, to play a set in Podunk, Colo., for 14 suspicious-looking locals and a couple creepy MySpace fans, then trying to get some sleep in a seedy motel room or, better yet, one of the creepy MySpace fan’s living room floor?
Fortunately, Milwaukee musicians have a way of experiencing all the joys of touring without having to quit their day jobs or spend thousands of dollars on gas. The solution is stringing together a small handful of quality shows in nearby markets with a network of like-minded regional bands. These weekend warriors have learned to use the city’s musical reputation and prime location to their advantage in their search for a piece of the touring lifestyle.
At the heart of the weekend warrior economy is the show trade. The formula is simple: bring a band from a market you want to play to Milwaukee for a show, and they will repay the favor in kind at a later date. The more enjoyable and well attended the show offered, the more you will get in exchange. It’s a system that polices itself (poor traders and abusers are naturally weeded out) and allows a traveling band to play in front of an inherent fan base as opposed to going it alone in an unfamiliar city. And with Milwaukee’s burgeoning live music hotbeds like Bay View and Riverwest providing ample quality venues, local bands should have no trouble offering up a solid night in Brew Town.
But the main asset Milwaukee has going for it is location, location, location. Within a half-a-days drive, local bands can reach countless major markets like Madison (90 miles, 90 minutes), Chicago (90 miles, 90 minutes), Indianapolis (270 miles, five hours), Minneapolis (340 miles, six hours), Detroit (370 miles, six and a half hours), St. Louis (380 miles, six and a half hours), and Cincinnati (380 miles, six and a half hours) among others.
This high concentration of regional cities with solid music scenes makes for not only a reasonable trip in terms of gas money, but allows for bands to string together multiple cities in a single trip. And the key to winning over fans in different markets is repetition. The more times a band gets in front of a group of another band’s fans, the better opportunity to draw a crowd themselves at some point.
Here’s a quick look at a few Milwaukee bands living the weekend warrior lifestyle this summer:
Jaill
Friday, July 8
Wonderful Fest @ Now That’s Class with No Bunny
Cleveland, Ohio
Saturday, July 9
MOTR Pub
Cincinnati, Ohio
I’m Not A Pilot
Friday, July 1
Summerfest @ Cascio Interstate Music Stage
Milwaukee, Wis.
Saturday, July 2
Triple Rock Social Club
Minneapolis, Min.
The Fatty Acids
Monday, August 1
TBA
Minneapolis, Min.
Tuesday, August 2
Boonie’s Bar and Grill
Sioux Falls, SD
