Since quietly debutingin 2007, the Cascio Interstate Music Groove Stage has grown steadily each year.WMSE 91.7 and the Shepherd Expressjoined as sponsors in 2008, helping draft a richer, higher-profile lineup thatincluded many of the local music scene's biggest draws. In 2009, the stagemoved from its remote placement near the Marcus Amphitheater to a larger,higher-traffic location between the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse and the Briggs& Stratton Big Backyard. This year, the stage receives yet another upgrade.
“We've been able toupgrade the sound system for the bands playing, so it's really a pro-levelsystem now,” says Michael Houser, chief executive officer of Cascio InterstateMusic. “Some of the mixing boards and soundboards are the same ones used at theBeijing Olympics, and the speaker system was used at Elton John's post-Oscarparty. We're also providing bands with a whole stage team and a sound engineerfrom the Riversideand Pabst Theater, so bands that are great anyway are going to sound that muchbetter.”
Here is a rundown ofthis year's daily highlights at the Cascio Interstate Music Groove Stage:
Thursday, June 24
Milwaukee's instrumentalpost-rock ensemble Collections ofColonies of Bees was already turning heads outside of the city on thestrength of their gorgeous 2008 album, Birds,but their profile increased substantially last year, when with longtime fanJustin Vernon of Bon Iver they released an album as Volcano Choir. Collectionsof Colonies of Bees headline the Groove Stage at 9 p.m., following a 7:30 p.m.set from the Illinois synth-pop band Elsinore.
Friday, June 25
Though they've only beenplaying together for a year, the Milwaukeegarage-pop trio Surgeons in Heat hasproved to be one of the city's most ambitious bands, squeezing themselves ontoany and every bill they can with hopes of playing about 75 shows a year.They'll add another one to their tally Friday night, when they play a 7:30 p.m.bill, between sets from the excitable indie-rock band At Latl, at 6 p.m., and TheVega Star, who headline the stage at 9 p.m. with a set of stately,heavy-hearted folk-rock.
Saturday, June 26
Garage-roots rockers The Wildbirds were one of the mostbuzzed-about bands ever to emerge from Appleton, Wis., until they abruptly brokeup after touring behind their 2007 album, GoldenDaze. Now reunited with a new lineup, the band is picking up where theyleft off and adding new material to their sets with hopes of reclaiming some ofthat earlier momentum. They headline the Groove Stage at 9 p.m., following a7:30 p.m. show by Canyons of Static,a post-rock group that shades its sound with traces of Brian Eno and Mogwai.
Sunday, June 27
If the Groove Stage isswarmed by screaming young girls on June 27, there's a good explanation: 9 p.m.headliners Kid, You'll Move Mountains,an Illinois indie-pop band, have undertaken a long-shot campaign to convincepop sensation Justin Bieber, who headlines the Marcus Amphitheater that night,to join them for their set. That probably won't happen, but sets fromindie-rockers Disguised as Birds(4:30 p.m.), The Trusty Knife (6p.m.) and Revision Text (7:30 p.m.)should keep things exciting in Bieber's absence.
Monday, June 28
In the early days of theStrokes-fueled garage-rock boom, Milwaukee'sThe Etiquette released Ages, an infectious 2002 EP that caughtthe attention of college radio stations and national press, but the band fellapart before they could capitalize on that momentum. It took seven years, butthe group finally followed up with a full-length album, 2009's Highly Unstable, a Cheap Trick-styledrock record that lived up to the promise of their EP. The band headlines theGroove Stage at 9 p.m., after a 7:30 p.m. set from the live hip-hop ensemble Fresh Cut Collective.
Tuesday, June 29
Tempering theirblistering noise-rock with big, giddy hooks, Milwaukee's IfIHadAHiFi delivered one of the most memorable sets at the GrooveStage last year. The group, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary,returns to the stage June 29 for a 7:30 p.m. set, followed by a 9 p.m.performance from John The Savage,who play their soused rock 'n' roll with deference to Tom Waits and Screamin'Jay Hawkins.
Wednesday, June 30
There's no shortage ofpop-rock bands playing the Groove Stage this year, but Milwaukee's I'm Not A Pilot set themselves apart from the pack by performingwithout a guitarist, instead building songs around piano and cello (the lattercourtesy of Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra member Peter Thomas). I'm Not aPilot's 9 p.m. set at the Groove Stage follows a 7:30 p.m. performance from thejazzy, contemporary pop group The JeannaSalzer Band.
Thursday, July 1
Thursday's lineup istopped by a trio of experimental-minded rock bands prone toward keyboards,effects and electronics. SleepComesDown,at 6 p.m., crafts moody, ambient psychedelic rock, while Ikarus Down, at 7:30 p.m., performs alt-rock in the spirit ofturn-of-the-century Radiohead. At 9 p.m., headliners Fable & The World Flat play soulful, beat-oriented indie-rockthat draws liberally from the rhythms of trip-hop.
Friday, July 2
Three very differentrock bands cap Friday's Groove Stage lineup. Following a 6 p.m. set from Brief Candles, Milwaukee's bestshoegaze band, the 11-piece Group of theAltos will squeeze onto the stage for a set of instrumental suites thattouch on post-rock, math-rock and chamber-pop. An art-punk band with danceableundertones, Worrier, closes thestage at 9 p.m.
Saturday, July 3
Milwaukee'slongest-running ska band, The Invaders,who pay homage to all incarnations of the genre, from its Jamaican beginningsto its punchier, third-wave iterations, headlines the Groove Stage at 9 p.m.,following performances from some of the stage's heavier bookings. Prog-rockers The Danglers perform at 4:30 p.m.,before local hard-rock aficionados SpiralTrance go on at 6 p.m., followed by Chicago-area blues-rockers The Hannah Ford Band at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 4
A 6 p.m. set from theCeltic folk band Athas precedes apair of performances from two country-rock bands on the Groove Stage's finalday. Dante's Bop, at 7:30 p.m.,draws particularly from the country and R&B sounds of Memphis, while headliners Whiskey Bound, at 9 p.m., prefer a moreraw, honky-tonk/rock 'n' roll hybrid.
