It’s hard to imagine any band replacing Soul Low. At a time when indie-rock was falling out of favor, they were the rare guitar band that stirred real excitement, and for many young fans the group was a gateway into the Milwaukee music scene. For a good stretch of the decade the jittery quartet was also one of the most active acts in the city, a band you could end up seeing several times in the same month without going all that far out of your way. Like summer street festivals or beer gardens in actual parks, frequent Soul Low shows were just one of those perks of living in Milwaukee, and they made every one of them a party.
Over the last year, though, the band dialed back their schedule considerably as members relocated to different cities, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise when they announced they were calling it quits this fall. But first they said goodbye with a brief three-city farewell tour that culminated with a pair of final shows at the Cactus Club on Saturday, including an all-ages afternoon show that dispelled any notion that alcohol is a prerequisite for a lively crowd.
Welcoming a packed audience hyped-up on nothing but cans of La Croix and bottles of Sprecher Root Beer, the band quipped about the show being “part three of a four-part funeral,” but the set was far from a funereal affair. The group was as jovial as ever, as they raced through a saxophone-splashed set that favored the faster, quirkier corners of their catalogue (though they also took Nosebleeds’ mercurial magnum opus “Frenemies” for a spin, too). Even on what could have been a somber occasion, the band went down cracking jokes and spitting fire. It’s how they deserve to be remembered.
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As if to offer some extra consolation, the bill featured two local openers who are not going anywhere anytime soon. Amanda Huff kicked off the day with a solo set of passionate, grippingly emotive ballads, singing each as if it were the theme to a James Bond film then cutting the tension with some chipper stage banter. Whips, meanwhile, reaffirmed themselves as one of the city’s most electric live acts, making every rocker crack like the band’s namesake. Milwaukee’s music scene may be down one great band, but it’s still in very good hands.
