When The National – complete with strings and a horn section – shook The Riverside Theater’s foundations with a spirited early August performance, were you there? Did you see Pavement, indie rock innovators who reunited following a decade-long break, when they happened upon Milwaukee last week? Were you among those on hand at the Pabst Theater Saturday to see what Dirty Projectors was all about?
I ask because you had the opportunity to attend any of these shows. As the curtains opened and first notes were struck, there was room for you … and your friends.
Each of the aforementioned Milwaukee shows failed to sell out. But these three performances aren’t the exception; rather, they seem to signal the rule. In all, there are numerous concerts in town, no matter the venue, caliber of band or night of the week, that do not sell out.
On one level, this is disappointing to see. Musicians must know when a room isn’t at (or even near) capacity. Undersold shows may limit the number of future events clubs and venues book or dictate whether a band decides to pay Brew City a visit on the next go-round. Additionally [drapes self in Wisconsin flag], when a band tells Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago or anywhere else “You’re a much better audience than those assholes in Milwaukee,” as they almost assuredly will, I don’t want it to actually be true. Especially the Detroit scenario.
While its easy to flagellate you, our loyal readers – who have been with us from the very beginning (of the month) – for missing touring bands’ Milwaukee stops, ditching out on local bands and daring to live a lifestyle not utterly affixed to an events calendar, it’s not fair to you. Really, in many ways, these undersold shows aren’t even a terrible thing but instead an indication of the overabundance of incredible events (music or otherwise) taking place in our fair city most of the year. Although not a cogent assessment at its base, closer investigation may yield at least a partial explanation for rampant Milwaukee concert absences.
Is it possible a portion of the populace required a live music hiatus after Summerfest (or was resting up for a post creampuff concert at The Wisconsin State Fair) and vowed to catch The National the next time they blew through town? Very. Did at least one Milwaukeean make the difficult fiscal decision to skip Pavement’s … uh, re-paving of the Pabst in favor of seeing Dirty Projectors at the same place just days later? Almost certainly. Did people ditch those very same Dirty Projectors to, instead, catch Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s across town at Mad Planet? I couldn’t tell you. I was seeing Louis C.K. perform at The Riverside while both shows were taking place. These sort of dilemmas must happen regularly.
Therein lies both the problem and the prize presented by the Milwaukee music scene – too much of a good thing can directly lead to not enough people – who themselves don’t have enough time, disposable income or cloning know-how – to go to every great show offered. The indisputable part of all this is in the quality of entertainment options at our beckon call. So make sure to (at any capacity) take advantage of this. Support local bands, come out to see that touring band you like and make periodic appearances at the fleet of beautiful, historic and unique Milwaukee-area music venues.
Doing those things is the best way to ensure this pleasant problem is both addressed and, at least in terms of the overdose of great Milwaukee events at our fingertips, continued.
