BY EVAN MUSIL & CHRIS DROSNER
On Wednesday, Landmark Credit Union Live – a brand-new music venue in the Deer District – opened its doors to the public for the first time at a community preview night.
Curious concertgoers got to explore the standing-room ground level, second-level reserved and premium box seating and two VIP areas – a top-level bar and terrace facing Fiserv Forum, and the Vinyl Room “inspired by 1970s Japanese listening rooms” with a bar, chef-inspired food and a DJ spinning records. Local design flourishes include a TYME Machine-esque photo booth, a drum wall and murals by artist Taylor Berman. Playing the stage for the night were two Milwaukee bands, The Steph Lippert Project and Chicken Wire Empire. Its first conventional concert is Friday, when Rainbow Kitten Surprise takes the stage.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS OF LANDMARK CREDIT UNION LIVE HERE
The 4,500-capacity hall is operated by FPC Live, a joint venture of Madison-based Frank Productions and concert giant Live Nation. Its arrival was marked by years of excitement and contention over what it might mean for Milwaukee’s concert landscape.
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Naturally, Milwaukee Magazine executive editor Chris Drosner and arts & culture editor Evan Musil had to take a look for themselves. What they found was a nice spot to catch a concert, and perhaps not much else.
CD: OK, well, that was interesting. After a night to sit on it, what are your thoughts?
EM: You know, it’s a venue! I have a hard time imagining that I wouldn’t enjoy a concert here, but nothing spoke to me. When you’re going to a concert, you’re not seeking out a venue – you’re just going wherever the band/artist is playing. The venue seems built for that, but nothing more. Concert efficiency.
CD: Totally. I might be a little less charitable here and say that it’s charmless. A big ol’ box with a very functional but unremarkable concert space in the middle of it. I didn’t think of it immediately last night, but the phrase “minimum viable product” occurred to me this morning.
EM: On paper, the venue sounds nice? There are plenty of bars, nice sightlines, and it sounds good – although that’s hard to determine in a community event like this in lieu of a standard concert. But it all felt commercial? The walls and floors are industrial gray and mostly barren. The few design elements are uninspiring, like the bottles above the mezzanine bar. Almost like they’re there to check a box rather than elicit genuine pleasure.
CD: I feel your point that this was not a normal event. The organizers really didn’t do these acts any favors last night. That stage is really big – wide and very tall – and they looked like ants on it. It was nice that they had community artists breaking in the venue, but it was not a great fit.
EM: Props to those artists – especially Chicken Wire Empire, whose sound and musicianship filled the hall nicely. It was less a concert and more so an open-doors tour with some background music. Which is fine, because people want to see the place – when else will I find myself in the VIP areas?
CD: Yes! Tell everyone about the Vinyl Room.
EM: On the mezzanine is a premium space (exclusively available to premium seat holders), and it was the highlight of the venue. A narrow corridor lined with records – a good number of them from local bands – leads into a swanky open lounge surrounded by ceiling-high windows, washed in mood lighting and outfitted with a bar with shelves of records and a DJ setup. Concert posters, stickers and memorabilia covered the walls and the leather furniture made it a warm, lively spot. It felt like the personality that’s missing elsewhere was stuffed in here.
CD: If you’ve ever been to The Wiggle Room in Bay View, it’s basically that – midcentury design, warm wood accents, vintage music worship – writ large, with $22 cocktails. It is cool. But the thing I kept thinking was, why would I come here when I came to see a concert? The Vinyl Room does not have a view of the stage, nor a single screen showing the action on stage. There’s a (very good, based on last night) DJ spinning tunes in there. The VIP space is the more austere Terrace area, with an outdoor patio facing Fiserv and a couple of screens with a feed of the show. (Access to the Terrace and outdoor patio is available through VIP upgrades, $40-$50 for shows with $55-$130 GA tickets.) So, I’m paying $40 to $50 extra to have … a couple fancier bars? I mean, Evan, that made me wonder about how many people in Milwaukee want this kind of upgrade on a show of the caliber Frank Productions and Live Nation will be bringing to Landmark Live. I know Bruce Springsteen and Elton John have those kinds of fans, but do Boys Like Girls?
EM: It’s hard for me to imagine – when I look at the lineup of upcoming acts (Miguel, Ari Lennox, etc.), they all have fanbases, sure, but big enough that some would splurge on these upgrades? Or to fill up the swathes of seats in the upper balcony? Most of them are acts you’d want to be standing in the pit for, I assume – and that’s what the ground floor is built for, so it seems like they recognize that. But when there’s so much strife over soaring ticket prices, I don’t know… But you said it last night: They presumably know their market. Maybe there’s something we’re missing?
CD: The “they” was one of the contexts we just couldn’t get away from last night, right? A lot of folks have reservations about the Live Nation impact on the market with this venue. Presumably this is a company that knows what it’s doing, not just nationally but already here in Wisconsin with The Sylvee in Madison. One of the guys from Chicken Wire Empire alluded to this in some of his between-song banter: “We’re Chicken Wire Empire. Don’t hassle us, we’re local.” That really jumped out at me.
EM: Personally, my impressions couldn’t detach themselves from that underlying tension – and we’re likely not the only ones who felt it that night. Because of its size and configuration, it’s hard to ascertain what hole the venue fills in our music scene. It felt like a cross between the Miller High Life Theatre and The Rave – or perhaps Fiserv Forum shrunk down to a hall – but it didn’t feel like a replacement for any of those things, either. There’s no other venue here like it, for better or worse.
CD: Right. Besides the scale of the stage itself, I noted the screens next to the stage – that’s a sign of an arena-type show. Ultimately, though, I’m not sure how much any of this is going to matter to me next time I’m thinking about a show at Landmark Live. If there’s an act there at a ticket price that is acceptable to me, I’ll go. The decor and the VIP stuff I wouldn’t spring for anyway are secondary to the show, and it does seem like a good place to see a show. But the parking! Hoo boy, I will be thinking about that. Last night there was a Bucks game happening at Fiserv, 100 feet away, and another basketball game at UWM Panther Arena the next block over, so it was rough down there. When I buy into a show there, I’ll be researching those other venues to see if a bus or Uber will be the better way.
EM: I’m a stickler for not paying for parking. When I finally found parking, it was a 15-minute walk to the venue. I’ll do it again! But it’s worth mentioning. About whether any of these amenities are deal-makers or deal-breakers – you’re right. I, and so many others, are only there for the show, and maybe that’s the whole point. To that end, it seems like a good space to catch a concert. If there’s an artist I want to see, I wouldn’t hesitate. But the cynic in me can’t help but wonder if it’s just a means to a foothold in Milwaukee for Live Nation.
CD: I wonder if we in Milwaukee have just gotten used to concert halls with so much character, even if they hinder the concert experience somewhat – looking primarily at the Rave/Eagles complex and Miller High Life Theatre. It’s been a trade-off that I hadn’t really thought much about until now. And apparently it will continue to be so, because this place has zero rizz. Even the exterior: Can someone please put a mural on that big blank wall facing Vel Avenue?
EM: That would be great. Throughout the venue, there is more potential for personality. Maybe Landmark Live will grow into itself? No matter what, the venue sticks out from the others. Your mileage may vary.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct how ticket holders can access the Vinyl Room and Terrace areas.
