they know! they know!

Altos – Never Named

Isn’t my state beautiful? Green trees, lakes and rivers abound, and stunning bands like Altos. One of my all-time favorite live acts, the men and women of Altos will collectively knock you over again and again.

Altos has unwittingly soundtracked my last couple years – I first saw them in the middle of the night with some of my favorite people, fog churning around us as we huddled for warmth as fall started to creep into the last light of summer. They are the band that first led me to The Shitty Barn, now a place I couldn’t imagine my summers without. Last year I returned to the banks of the Rock River, the place where I first saw them play, known then as Group of the Altos. My heart pounded along to “Never Named” as I burned sparklers and fireworks exploded overhead with the song’s pulsing crescendo.

People often speak of true love only romantically and in relation to another person, but the fullness in my heart brought by these notes and places and images can’t be denied.

cut out all the ropes and let me fall

Here at M|H we try to deliver a critical response to music and related pop-culture, but occasionally we just melt into puddles of adoring fandom. This is one of those times. On July 23, 2011 we headed to the Riverside in Milwaukee, WI to see Bon Iver for the first time. Never in the same place at the same time, it’s been a meeting long in the making. Often left speechless, it was all we could do to alternate between beaming grins and rapt, dropped-jaw gazing. Suffice it to say Bon Iver exceeded all expectations.

Perth

Skinny Love

morrissey, you have killed me

I tried a little experiment of micro-blogging from the Morrissey show at the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, WI on April 3, 2009. Here’s a recap:

All kinds of fine with second row.

http://twitpic.com/2sh94 – Enjoying the opener, The Courteeners.

Sweetest dude: ‘morrissey’ relief-shaved in his head. (mostly shaved, some hair)

http://twitpic.com/2sk3b – Moz!!!!

I have never seen middle aged men reaching to touch another middle aged man before.

http://twitpic.com/2sm4x – Lost the jacket. Open shirt soon I am sure

‘nobody lives in green bay. I don’t think so anyway…’

Shirt change for ‘Let Me Kiss You’. Oh Moz.

http://twitpic.com/2snh9 – Buttons flying, shirt off.

That was incredible. End of concert updates.