Monday, 12 Nov 2007
You get what you’d expect when a band plays its last night of a tour and each member has their own personal bottle of Jameson or Jägermeister. Nonetheless, we were happy to head to Milwaukee last night to catch one of our favorite bands and check out for the first time, Milwaukee’s newest landmark concert venue, Turner Hall.
Per usual, Lucero honored and took shouted requests for most of the evening, starting with their trademark opener “That Much Further West.” Tracks like “Joining The Army,” and “The War” were specifically noteworthy and timely due to their performance on the eve of Veterans Day. The band was clearly enjoying their last show, which at points came at the expense of those in attendance, it positively wound up in typical fashion of hoisted drinks, sing-a-longs, and sledgehammer hangover to remind you of just how much fun this band and its fans can be for an evening.
I was impressed with the abundance of space at Turner Hall. It had been several years since I’d been within its walls, the huge open space with rustic and timeless feel offers a great alternative for shows of this size in the city of Milwaukee. That’s not to say all the kinks have been worked out in the venues armor as mentioned in the comments here. Because the venue is so large, the sound can easily escape, making it, at times, hard to hear anything resembling a cohesive sound. Rest assured that where other venues with similar structure would rest on their laurels, the folks at the Pabst are determined to invest in the venue and make every effort to address the tweaks that they are well-aware of which was already evident in our conversation with them prior to the show beginning.
In conclusion, I’m sure that I’ll be walking through the doors of Turner Hall again, and hopefully soon considering MoB favorite and soul revivalist Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings take the stage on Saturday, November 17th.
MoB: Ben Nichols: Dog Day Night
MoB: Lucero/Catfish Haven - Otto’s - DeKalb, IL
MoB: A Look Back @ Lucero/Red 40
MoB: Lucero - Alley Katz - Richmond
MoB: Lucero - Mad Planet Review
MoB: 5 Questions with Ben Nichols of Lucero
MoB: Gave you everything I stole
Myspace: Lucero
November 13th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I thought the show lived up to everything I had expected. I wasn’t able to make the show last year at Mad Planet, so this was the first chance I had to see them. However, I picked up the movie Dreaming in America, which has a lot of show footage. The only thing that kept me from enjoying this show as much as I should have was the fact I had to drive back to Madison, precluding my ability to get even half as hammered as the band. Still, I came away with a serious contact buzz.
I was underwhelmed by Bobby Bare Jr. I’ve enjoyed some of his recorded work, but I thought his performance was really odd. I was also toward the back during their set, and the sound does get a bit echo-y back there. Maybe that was it. Did you catch the opening act? I was a bit late, visiting a friend at UWM.