I had a great lesson Thursday with Micah and Gigi. This week, they re-created my infamous watermelon sketch and learned how to make colors pop on toned paper. Specifically, using white to blend and layer with the red to get that watermelon look. It took Gigi a couple tries to get it, but eventually she was okay with her final result. I really liked it but she wasn't digging it. I still have to work on her self-confidence. Her sister Micah NAILED the sketch. Totally proud. Really made the colors pop. I've got a week off from art lessons and next week I'll have a group lesson. It'll be intense and fun. It will also be a new challenge working with kids of similar skill level so I need to come up with a great lesson piece.
Saturday, I did some yard work, we ran to Trader's for groceries and later, my parents stopped over with their new puppy Simon. Such a cute dog! A bit later, I drove to Cudahy for Dummerfest 2019. It was my first time going to this festival at this little arcade bar, but if they bring bands like The Lawrence Arms again in the future, I'll totally be back. The overall feel of this place was like a punk rock BBQ. Kids running around with over-sized band shirts, burgers/veggie burgers/brats for sale and plenty of beer. I rarely go to concerts anymore but tempt me with one of my all-time favorite band The Lawrence Arms and there is no way I'm missing it. I first saw them perform back in 2002 at the Plea for Peace show with a bunch of great acts. While waiting for my good buddy Jon to meet up with me, I watched some of the other 11 different acts that were performing throughout the day including Minneapolis's The Punchlines. Every song was a groan-worthy painfully funny joke. The singer would tell the joke, the crowd would laugh and they would start the song singing the joke. Really liked them. While watching a band inside, I ran into Brendan Kelly of TLA and he gave me a hug. He remembered me from a few years ago when he stopped in Madison with his side project, The Falcon.
Later outside, I told him how my daughter Mia just started playing bass and recently got into TLA. He was gracious enough to record a personal message to her giving her advice on learning how to play bass. Such an incredibly nice guy. Every time I've met him, he's the most down-to-earth guy and I hope when they release their new album, they tour and come around again. Mia really wanted a t-shirt from the show but when I showed her the video message this morning, she was beaming with a big smile from ear to ear.
After her recorded the message, I ran into Chris, the other singer. I was really hoping I'd be lucky enough to talk to him. He was super friendly and we got to chat a while outside after a quick picture. Both guys signed an album for me as well. Wish I would have taken a better picture of myself with him, but oh well. I sadly didn't get to talk to Neil, their drummer. He was a bit elusive and was always in a conversation with someone or just not around. I met him several years ago when he toured with the Smoking Popes.
Later, Jon finally arrived and we played a few arcade games before Direct Hit went on. Lippies played before them and they weren't too bad. Crowd really liked them as well. Direct Hit is a local group from Milwaukee and they were pretty solid. During sound check, the guitar player broke his string. After he replaced it, he broke it again. Talk about luck. When you're an up-and-coming band, you don't tour with multiple guitars so he just dealt with it and played sans string.
Finally, it was Lawrence Arms time. After a lengthy sound check, they finally took the stage with the Laverne and Shirley theme blasting through the speakers. It was an insanely amazing set with the crowd going off to every song. Set list was as follows in no particular order:
Slowest Drink
Devil's Takin Names
Great Lakes
Like a Record Player
You Are Here
Seventeener
Acheron River
Beautiful Things (encore)
Cut it up
Recovering The Opposable Thumb
Margaret
100 Resolutions
Brickwall Views
Intransit
Drunk Mouth/Kitchen Smile
The Revisionist
On With The Show
Alert The Audience!
Chapter 13: The Hero Appears
Ramblin' Boys of Pleasure
I hope I'm not missing anything. It was an awesome night. I still can't believe it happened. TLA played in a weird town to hundreds of people in a packed arcade and it couldn't have been a better night. If they would have played my favorite song "Turnstyles" it would have been magical. Alas, they didn't but it didn't matter. I was lucky to give one more "thank you" to Chris after the show before heading out. We had a blast and it will go down as one of my all-time favorite shows. One of the best things about being a part of the punk community both as a musician and fan, is that some of the really amazing acts play little hole in the wall places or intimate venues that give you access to meeting band members. You feel this connection when the band is a foot or two in front of you. You don't get that hundreds of feet watching a screen in an arena. There are no pits or stage diving. For me personally, I wanna be right up there with the fans. The ones sweating, singing and feeling every note and lyric. It's a magical experience that took me back to my youth. The drive home was ridiculous after Jon and I said our goodbyes. Just thinking about the night and how lucky I truly am to have discovered this band so long ago. I was so excited the next morning to talk to Mia about it, show her the video and give her a button I was given from the tour manager. I couldn't snag a set list but that's all good. I brought a TLA shirt themed for the Milwaukee stint with a cheese head and Chicago sausage. The tour manager said it was stupid but the fans all bought them. Today, I painfully am recovering and remembering that my age. Voice took a bit to come back but eventually it did at work. This week, Mia's got bass lessons, hang with some old friends and a vet visit for Remi. Jill's birthday is this week so we're taking her out for dinner. That's all for now, thanks for reading!!
No comments:
Post a Comment