Takin' the Blog for a Walk
Join Waukesha resident Brien Lee and his blog, Sir Fido, as they explore the city and report on the interesting things they find.
Email Brien at howlinblog@yahoo.com.
the Gig has landed
Summerfest's 45th year is in the history books. Was waiting until today to go when everyone could get in free between noon and three. The weather was great today, finally cooled off and was quite bearable. Never did make it though. Didn't see anyone playing I had to see. There's always another year.
Didn't make it to Friday Night Live either. Weather continued hot, and I had enough hot after 10 hours at work. I did however make it to one of the most entertaining gigs after work... and it was air conditioned!
The winners of Summerfest's first ever Land the Big Gig nationwide talent search were performing at Boucher Hyundai on Moreland in Waukesha Friday, and it was on my way home. The stage and seating was set up outside, but it was SO DARN HOT! that it was thankfully moved to the customer waiting area indoors.
I hurried in to catch the last of Flavia & The Red's set in a room full of people and food, lots and lots of food. The top three finalists were playing at Boucher: Second place Flavia, followed by first place finisher Jamie Lono and third place brother / sister duo 1703. Flavia gave away a few CDs after performing and she autographed mine.
I loved all three groups, but since hearing most from 1703 they kind of grew on me. It was a very intimate venue compared to the thousands they played for at Summerfest. About 25 people filled the room, and there was enough food for twice that. While 1703 played last, most of the Flavia & The Red band soon joined in for quite the jam session. It was informal like a living room, and they took requests. If they didn't know the songs real well it was hard to tell.
It was an awful lot of fun, and if that weren't enough there were give-aways too! Everyone got a guitar-shaped bottle opener / keychain from Tap Milwaukee, and everyone but me seemed to have a raffle ticket. Sixteen generous door prizes were raffled off, nearly enough for everyone in the room.
Several major sponsors were present including the Journal Sentinel, Boston Store and of course Boucher Automotive Group. I don't know exactly who paid for what, but even though I didn't eat the food or win anything I surely appreciated the generosity and great music. I thank them for bringing a little bit of Summerfest to Waukesha.
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