Photo credit: Dan Ojeda/PTGLIVE EVENTS
The secret headliner at this year's Cheers to Milwaukee show didn't leak as early as last year's did, but a day before the concert Fox 6 roving reporter Carl Deffenbaugh teased some revealing clues:
1) Rock band, male vocalist.
2) Played at @Summerfest within the last 5 years.
3) Strong local connections.
4) Not the @RollingStones.
That doesn't leave a lot of options—you can count the number of notable non-Milwaukee rock bands with strong Milwaukee ties on about one hand—so if you guessed The Record Company, you were right. The Los Angeles power trio, featuring Milwaukee expat Chris Vos, headlined the nearly sold-out free concert at the Riverside Theater for a very appreciative crowd.
By and large it was a more enjoyable affair than last year's inaugural #CheersToMKE concert, where expectations got a little out of hand. At that show, featuring the Foo Fights-affiliated cover band Chevy Metal, the crowd waited in vain for a Dave Grohl cameo that never came. With expectations a little more reasonable this year, the audience was better able to enjoy The Record Company's performance for what it was: a free concert from a band that's very much best in their class. Even if you aren't even really into the band's style of bluesy, blustery rock 'n' roll, it was hard not to be won over by their enthusiasm—they love this music so much that it almost doesn't matter if you don't.
Vos's Milwaukee ties also made the band a smart fit for a show ostensibly dedicated to celebrating the city. Anybody who remembers the singer/guitarist from his old Milwaukee bands Freshwater Collins and Invade Rome recalls that he was one of the most genuine, goodhearted musicians in the local music scene for years, a guy who was always as passionate about other bands as he was his own. It's been a treat to watch such a deserving local player enjoy his success, even if there's something a little bittersweet about the fact that he had to leave Milwaukee for L.A. in order to find it. Every now and then it's important to remind the city to appreciate what it has under its own roof.
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