what a difference a decade makes

This morning I realized that yesterday was the ten-year anniversary of the first concert I ever booked. As a freshman in college I joined the WUD Music Committee after seeing their ad in the student activities guide and then attending a free concert featuring Hey Mercedes. The committee quickly became the center of my extracurricular activities and social life, and at the end of my first semester I managed to book one of my favorite bands from home, Punchline, and this little Chicago band that they were on tour with – Fall Out Boy.

This is what I looked like exactly ten years & one day ago.

The show was at the very beginning of the spring semester of 2003, and being that it was January in Wisconsin it was freezing cold and snowing. One of the people who had co-booked the show (Madcap, Count the Stars, and 504 Plan were also on the bill) had nightmares leading up to the show, dreaming that nobody came. Happily, the show ended up being packed. Below is an era-appropriate photo collage from the night, as well a video sampling of the bands that played.

504 Plan – Fathead

Count the Stars – Taking It All Back

Punchline – Play

Fall Out Boy – Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

Madcap – Going on the Road

paper tiger mixtape

When we saw that Midwestern hip-hop collective Doomtree (P.O.S, Sims, Dessa, Cecil Otter, Lazerbeak, Mike Mictlan, and Paper Tiger) was coming to town, we jumped on the chance to see if they’d make us a mixtape. Live DJ, producer, and graphic designer Paper Tiger was so kind as to agree, and has given the world an amazing mix of hip-hop, 80s, and indie to get pumped on before catching them on tour. The Madison, Wisconsin show on Friday, March 9th at Union South’s The Sett is free, so be sure to come out. Stick around after – Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak will be DJing the after party.

PAPER TIGER MIXTAPE
01| Walk In by Lil’ Wayne
02| Vital Nerve by Company Flow f/ BMS
03| Can U Touch Me (Yuksek Remix) by The Film
04| Buddy (12” Remix) by De La Soul & Jungle Brothers
05| Lips Like Sugar (Extended Remix) by Echo & the Bunnymen
06| Let’s Go To Bed by The Cure
07| Sussudio (Special Extended Remix) by Phil Collins
08| Axel F (Extended Version) by Harold Faltermeyer
09| Running Up That Hill (Extended Version) by Kate Bush
10| Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung
11| Under the Milky Way by The Church
12| Making Plans for Nigel by XTC
13| No Scrubs by TLC
14| Everybody, Everybody by Black Box
15| Ride On Time by Black Box
16| In a Big Country by Big Country
17| Lisztomania (Shook Remix) by Phoenix
18| Sleep Rules Everything Around Me by Wugazi
19| Stay Close by Basement Jaxx
20| General Patton by Big Boi f/ Big Rube
21| I ♥ U So by Cassius
22| Pots & Pans by Les Savy Fav
23| Suedehead by Morrissey
24| 212 by Azealia Banks f/ Lazy J
25| Stupid Hoe by Nicki Minaj
26| Bring Em Out by T.I.
27| Stop by Jay-Z f/ Swizz Beatz
28| Blow by Rick Ross f/ Dre

and it’s all flailing limbs at the front line

Welsh twee-poppers Los Campesinos! played in Madison, WI to a packed house at the Rathskeller on February 6th, 2009.

The impossibly cute and ridiculously energetic 7-piece ripped through their catalog with the fury of a punk act and the pop sensibility of anyone in the Top 40. There was no shortage of group sing-alongs, due either to the band’s inherent inclusivity or, more likely, their catchy hooks. Los Campesinos!’s smart lyrics reverberated off the arch of the Rathskeller stage, particularly during “Death to Los Campesinos!” and “Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks”.

Furthering the all-for-one vibe was the band’s interaction with their fans. Whether diving into the crowd or singing into cheering faces,  Los Campesinos! threw down like a rowdy family reunion. A rowdy family reunion filled with pogoing hipsters and ringing glockenspiels.

Los Campesinos! will be touring the US into April – you can find tour dates here.

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For videos from the show, click here.
For pictures from the show (all 172 of them), click here.