Summerfest Preview: June 30, 2017

It’s the rare blues-rocker who chooses the trombone as his ax, but TromboneShorty, the stage name for New Orleans musician Troy Andrews, has coaxed somesoulful sounds out of the long, slender brass instrument

Shorty, 31, has been playing his unique blend of jazz, funk and rap since hewas 4 years old. A member of the Stooges Brass Band in his teens, he has beenspreading New Orleans’ musical gospel while experimenting with a variety ofapproaches to brass performance. The musician mixes horn solos and vocalprowess easily on stage, creating a powerful blues sound with a Crescent Cityinflection. He also plays trumpet, organ, drums and, when pressed, the tuba.

Shorty was part of Lenny Kravitz’s horn section and performed with U2 and GreenDay during the reopening of the New Orleans Superdome for the NFL’s “MondayNight Football” pre-game show after the city’s devastation by HurricaneKatrina. His most discerning audience, however, may have been former PresidentBarak Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama when he performed with B.B. King,Keb’ Mo’ and other artists at the White House in February 2012 as part of BlackHistory Month. (Michael Muckian)

House of Pain
BMO Harris Pavilion
9:45 p.m.

With its distinctive thump and sampled saxophone squalls, House of Pain’s addictivehit “Jump Around” was an instant smash when it was released in the early ’90s,but it’s since taken on a second life for sports fans—especially here in theDairyland, where the song is as cherished in some corners of Badgers fandom as“On Wisconsin.” For nearly two decades, the song has blared through thespeakers of Camp Randall Stadium while thousands of jumping students literally shakethe rafters. In recent years, the Milwaukee Brewers have started playing thetrack at their games, too.

After House of Pain broke up in 1996, a day before their third and final album,the members headed in some odd directions. Everlast reinvented himself as arapping bluesman, scoring a very-’90s hit with the self-serious 1997 single“What It’s Like,” while DJ Lethal became the turntablist for Limp Bizkit. Tenyears after their split, all three members of the group reunited as part of asupergroup called La Coka Nostra, but it was only in 2010 that they officially formedHouse of Pain. For this tour, the group will be commemorating its 25thanniversary. (Evan Rytlewski)