In a city as small as Milwaukee, a market many touring acts are apt to skip unless someone makes the effort to pull them in, it’s hard to overstate the difference that just a few promoters can make. In the last couple years, the city has hosted innumerable great punk, garage-rock, folk-rock and (to a lesser extent) hip-hop acts, all because of just a handful of industrious promoters booking their pet interests.
Among the newest and most ambitious additions to this burgeoning school of Milwaukee promoters is a company called Tugboat Hustle, which has been bringing mid-level indie-rock and hip-hop acts like Headlights and Eyedea and Abilities to the city since last November.
The company’s early April calendar is looking especially full:
Friday, April 2 – Rocky Votolato w/ Brook Waggoner and Mark Waldoch @ The Bay View Brew Haus
Monday, April 5 – Shearwater w/ Wye Oak and Hospital Ships @ Mad Planet
Thursday, April 8 – Mac Lethal w/ DJ Sku, Soulcrate Music and Nightkrawlers @ Mad Planet
Friday, April 9 – The Hood Internet w/ The Glamour and DJ Dion @ Todd Wehr Auditorium (all ages)
Saturday, April 10 – Unwed Sailor w/ We Are Your Father and Common Loon @ The Cactus Club
Founded by Reuven Cocos, a gregarious promoter who formerly booked for the Stonefly Brewery, Tugboat Hustle has grown to include a staff of above five or six people, including recent addition Nick Tovarek, formerly of Slap Hands Promotions.
“I want to book bands the way its supposed to be done, offering them a reasonable guarantee, some good dinner, a hotel if they need one, and put them at a venue that suits the style of music they play,” says Cocos. “I get off on bringing acts to town that are big enough for me to cover their expenses, but small enough to put in a venue that lets you see them face-to-face.”
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Cocos says that so far outside venues have appreciated the extra booking assistance, and although he’s has made no secret about bidding on some of the same acts as other promotersin particular, he’s vied to book at smaller venues bands that might otherwise play the Turner Hall Ballroomhe says his relationship with other promoters is friendly.
“Promoters can all help each other out,” he says. “I think we all have this unspoken understanding that we’re working as a team, even if we’re sometimes competing for the same show. We can share contact information, for instance. I think we've all got the same goal: sustaining a community where people are used to the idea that they can go out and see a good show almost every night of the week.”
