Well, apparently last night was a live music holiday. While the youngsters were at Lyrics Born in Madtown, I was enjoying an amazing show from Wilco, their first show of the 2009 tour and their first of two back-to-back shows at the amazing and intimate Pabst Theater in downtown Milwaukee.
If you haven't been to the Pabst, go see a show - any show - there. It is an amazing venue with incredible acoustics and it is truly beautiful to look at. We sat in the third level (The Gallery) and looked down on Wilco the way German-Americans looked down on Wagner's operas from that same spot in 1895. (I snapped the photo at the top of this post.) It is a National Historic Landmark and a favorite of many artists, including Wilco, who chose to perform two insta-sold-out shows at the intimate, 1300 seat theater, rather than cashing in on a much larger venue. (Wilco has easily sold out the 3200 capacity Eagles Ballroom in the past and has had overflowing, enormous crowds for Summerfest shows on the "free stages.") Here is a nice stock photo of the Pabst:
As for the show itself, it was my birthday gift to myself and I couldn't have asked for anything better. For anyone who truly appreciates good music played by good musicians with a genuine sentiment, Wilco can't be beat. I saw Wilco for the first time at the Barrymore Theater in Madison in February 1997, and I've probably seen them about a dozen times since then. This was easily one of their best shows that I've seen, and it sounded better than ever in the caring hands of the Pabst. They've all but abandoned the rootsy rock that drew me to them in the '90s, but the new stuff is just plain better. Plus, you know, $3 silos of Pabst at the Pabst. All in all, a great time.
I'll leave the detailed concert reviewing to the experts. Here's the review from The Decider, the Onion's culture section.
5 comments:
Pabst is a great place to see a show if you dont want to stand up. I went to see Atmosphere and there was general seating in the first level, unfortunately nobody wanted to sit down so there were about 50 more people to a row than there should have been. It did sound wonderful though.
If you want to sit down near the front and be able to see a show, I would recommend Cats or Rent. That's not going to happen at a general admission hip-hop show, no matter where you go.
Yeah I realize that. I guess I didnt word that very well, it is a pain in the ass to stand up and move around in the general seating areas becuase there are a bunch of seats in the way. It sounded great, but if you are all about getting rowdy it isnt the best spot to see a show.
This was a great show! I was up on the 3rd level too, wish I would have known you were there. First time I've ever seen Wilco live, and as you said, it blew me away. Can't find a bad seat at the Pabst.
Tasty,
Just checking out your blog upon recommendation from Schaub and Powell. Awesome work. I was at both of those Wilco shows. Check out the vids that I got from the 3rd row. Hope you got your tix for February in Madison. See you there.
--Wegs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKlOXu5tdAQ
http://www.youtube.com/user/HeyBall14#p/a/u/1/AqlI0FXNT9M
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