Genre Archives: Pop

The Regrettes

This show was rescheduled from May 14.  Previously purchased tickets are still valid at the new date.

Based on the latest local guidelines, attendees are no longer required to provide proof of negative COVID-19 test AND/OR vaccination for entry into this event. Other shows on our calendar may still have specific health and safety requirements based on artist request.  Be sure to check our venue website for the latest updates and guidelines as entry requirements are subject to change.


ABOUT THE REGRETTES

Further Joy

“There’s so much pressure to constantly better yourself,” Lydia Night, lead singer and songwriter of The Regrettes, says. “We’re obsessed with social media, which makes it easy to obsess over self-growth and unhealthy amounts of productivity. That phrase, ‘further joy,’ summarized what it meant to be on the hamster wheel of constantly chasing happiness, but in turn, that’s what makes you unhappy,” she adds, acknowledging the shared inner turmoil she, guitarist Genessa Gariano, bassist Brooke Dickson, and drummer Drew Thomsen were dealing with at the start of last year. “I was stuck in a loop of wanting to be better, wanting to be good, and therefore I couldn’t be here. I couldn’t be present.” The desire to break free of that cycle is what the band’s third album, Further Joy, is all about.

As the pandemic set in and Los Angeles shut down, The Regrettes were having a full-blown identity crisis. Lydia had been touring since she was 12-years-old, meeting guitarist Genessa when they were just teens in music school. As a band, they’d been on stage long before their 2017 debut, Feel Your Feelings Fool!. And, by the time they released their critically acclaimed LP How Do You Love? in 2019, they’d formed a cohesive lineup with Brooke and Drew, setting themselves on a steady upward trajectory. They’d spent the past two years headlining sold-out shows across North America and Europe, performing at mainstay festivals like Coachella and Reading and Leeds and playing their hit singles on Good Morning America, Conan, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. As NME said of their sophomore album, The Regrettes were “truly unstoppable” until they weren’t.

“So much of our identity is tied to music and performing,” Brooke says, adding that without the distraction of playing live, they were forced to answer the question: “Who am I when I’m not performing?” That shared inner inquiry can be heard in the band’s most actualized, collaborative, and vulnerable album to date, a self-aware soundtrack for those interested in what Lydia refers to as “dancing the pain away.”

In January of 2021, after more than a year apart, The Regrettes reconvened for a 10-day writing retreat in Joshua Tree. They went on hikes, stargazed, transformed their living room into a disco, and had candid conversations, some of which made their way into songs. They left the desert with a vision for the record and demos in hand, slowly bringing it to life through zoom writing sessions, and working separately with producers Jacknife Lee and Tim Pagnotta. They experimented with their sound, pushed their creative limits, and Lydia, who was once skilled in the art of “writing a song in 30 minutes and then not touching it” recalls writing then editing her deepest truths. Although the subject matter is anything but light, she still calls it the “poppiest, and danciest” album they’ve ever made.

You can hear that levity in “Monday,” an upbeat track Lydia wrote at the peak of her anxiety disorder. “Once you accept what’s going on with your mental health, sometimes it gets worse before it gets better,” Lydia says. “Accepting I had anxiety and depression was extremely scary because then it became real. This song comes from the validation of those feelings.” The song’s music video introduces the character “Joy” – a pink representation of the unattainable yet ideal self the album pushes against.

In “Out of Time” Lydia sings “all of these anxieties come over me/ just let me breathe” at a panicked pace, sonically capturing the feeling of running out of time. In “Barely On My Mind” Lydia replays scenes from “a really gnarly, abusive relationship,” she processed during the lockdown. On the song, Genessa turns up distortion, Brooke experiments with palm muting, creating a tight poppy sound, and Drew lives his ‘80s R&B pop dream thanks to the percussion overlaying his drum track. “We’ve all had terrible experiences with abusive men,” Brooke says of the track. “There’s no sweet way to put it, that one’s an angsty banger.” In, “Subtleties (Never Giving Up On You)” Lydia discusses her path to self-acceptance. “‘Subtleties’ in particular feels super pretty, and beautiful, but is one of the darkest songs of the album lyrically,” Lydia says. “I’ve struggled with eating disorders for a large portion of my life starting when I was 15, which eventually turned into body dysmorphia. Me singing ‘Never giving up on you’ is me singing to myself.” In “Homesick” Lydia taps into feelings of longing. “I’d been going through this whole pandemic process with my boyfriend and I hate feeling codependent but I felt so codependent when he left. I had gotten so used to, without even realizing it, having that person around and relying on that person.” Though it’s a love song, “Homesick” still captures the dangers of yearning too much. “There are moments and lyrics that still give you a glimpse into that dark place I was in, like the one-line ‘fetishizing the thought of you lying’ I love that lyric because I feel like that’s my anxiety to a T.”

For Brooke writing “You’re So Fucking Pretty” together was transformative. “That was a new experience for us, both sonically and emotionally,” she says. “We hadn’t explored that space together. That was a big moment for us and it’s a really special moment on the album. Lydia recalls the relief of being open with her bandmates without feeling embarrassed or scared. “It’s the first time I’ve ever written directly about a girl I had a crush on and it took me a while for me to even allow my brain to accept the fact that I’m bisexual,” Lydia shares. “Writing this was important for me because it just validated my own sexuality.” For Genessa, “You’re So Fucking Pretty” was an opportunity to write a song they wish they had when they were younger. “As a queer person growing up it definitely felt like there weren’t many songs I could relate to, and I feel like this song would have been something I would have held really close to my heart as a kid. I hope that happens with other people. I don’t think it necessarily has to be this queer anthem but I think someone else could listen to it and feel the same way, or a girl could feel that way about a boy she likes. Boys can be pretty too.”

The band wrote, “La Di Da” to capture what Lydia calls “the action a kid would have, of putting your hands over your ears and saying ‘la la la’ to block out everything.” The call to action was inspired by their impromptu desert dance party. “I have a playlist of 2000s songs and when we were in Joshua Tree, we had a dance party with these colored lights with gels,” Genessa says. “It may have been the Black Eyed Peas, some song telling us to put our hands up. You don’t have to think, you have no choice but to dance because it’s telling you what to do. That’s such a freeing feeling.” Drew remembers the song, being a “total departure” from the band’s typical path in the studio. “I was playing an organelle, this really cool synth with wooden buttons,” he shares. “That first thing that comes in on the song, that little synth part I was playing, Lydia heard that and loved it, so I kept playing and she started singing. It was one of those songs that came out very quickly.” Writing those songs together gave the band a newfound sense of ownership. “There’s a passion behind the actual music itself now that hasn’t been at that level before,” Drew shares, adding, “It’s the first album that feels like our album.”

The song “Nowhere” draws inspiration from an Alan Watts quote, “You can’t live it all unless you can live fully now.” The line left a lasting impression on Lydia. “What Further Joy means, that chase for happiness, that quote sums it up,” she says. “You’re never going to experience real life if you’re chasing something.” It’s the lesson that allowed The Regrettes to pause, go inward separately, and still land in the same place together, becoming a tighter unit than they’ve ever been. “So fucking much has changed on a personal level which translates into my lyricism and the way we are with each other, how close we are with each other,” Lydia recognizes. “We’ve bonded so much.” It’s also the lesson Lydia hopes listeners walk away with. “We all deserve happiness and to be present, and we’ll never get there if we feel so much shame and guilt for not being there already,” she adds. “Don’t get caught in the hamster wheel of chasing joy.”

Aly & AJ

Aly & AJ originally scheduled at Majestic Theatre on April 16, 2022 has been rescheduled to June 6, 2022. All tickets purchased will be honored for the rescheduled date. For any further ticket inquiries please reach out to point of purchase.

Based on the latest local guidelines, attendees are no longer required to provide proof of negative COVID-19 test AND/OR vaccination for entry into this event. Other shows on our calendar may still have specific health and safety requirements based on artist request.  Be sure to check our venue website for the latest updates and guidelines as entry requirements are subject to change. 


ABOUT ALY & AJ

Aly & AJ have spent over a decade putting an eternal creative truth into practice: you don’t find your voice by waiting around; you create it, by writing through. After rising to fame as teen stars in the worlds of Disney pop and TV sitcoms—beloved right at the cross-section of millennials and Gen Z, as evidenced by the recent runway TikTok revival of their 2007 kiss-off “Potential Breakup Song”—the sisters have quietly worked on songs. They chiseled away at their craft, manifesting themselves honestly.

Their first album in 14 years is called a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet gets you out and then into the sun, which is just right. This long and winding name befits their singular journey through music, a title full of rhythm and poetry, but with an ease and a brightness: All qualities that help define the newly independent sound of Aly & AJ. Having survived the slick, hyper-manicured pop sphere with their souls in tact, the Torrance, California-born duo—and lifelong musical collaborators—have transformed their sound into something looser and more personal. (Along the way, they produced the 2015 Richard Linklater-inspired film, Weepah Way for Now, based on their own experiences of sisterhood, stardom, and growth.)

Aly & AJ are now at a point where they can celebrate their unique past—“We’ve become these accidental TikTok queens,” AJ laughs—while staying true to a vision that feels right to them. In an inspiring turn, they even re-recorded “Potential Breakup Song,” ridding it of the AutoTune that defined so much 2000s pop and singing an explicit update of the lyrics (which their fans had been requesting for years). “It’s funny to have been making music together for so long, to be able to finish each other’s sentences and perfectly match our voices to each other,” Aly reflects. “Some people will ask, ‘Who’s singing on this?’ And it’s both of us: our third voice. We have a third voice that comes from my and AJ’s voices together.”

The Taylor Party

Based on the latest local guidelines, attendees are no longer required to provide proof of negative COVID-19 test AND/OR vaccination for entry into this event. Other shows on our calendar may still have specific health and safety requirements based on artist request.  Be sure to check our venue website for the latest updates and guidelines as entry requirements are subject to change. 

**POSTPONED** The Regrettes

The Regrettes at Majestic Theatre on May 14, 2022 has been postponed. Your ticket will be honored for the rescheduled date when announced. For any further ticket inquiries please reach out to point of purchase.

A message from The Regrettes:

hey y’all. after the toronto show on tuesday night, lydia started feeling some intense stomach pains. after returning to the hotel, they persisted and she ended up going to the er early the next morning. we found out that she was having some serious complications in her appendix and went into immediate surgery. we are so happy to say that the surgery went smoothly and she is doing much better today. unfortunately, we have no choice but to reschedule the rest of our upcoming tour dates through may 24th so that she can get the proper care that she needs to recover. we are heartbroken but endlessly thankful that lydia is safe. we love you. thank you for understanding. more info to come on rescheduled dates soon.

 

Based on the latest local guidelines, attendees are no longer required to provide proof of negative COVID-19 test AND/OR vaccination for entry into this event. Other shows on our calendar may still have specific health and safety requirements based on artist request.  Be sure to check our venue website for the latest updates and guidelines as entry requirements are subject to change. 


ABOUT THE REGRETTES

How Do You Love?, the sophomore LP from L.A. power-pop outfit The Regrettes, is a an album about the most universal of emotions: love. Throughout the record, 18-year-old frontwoman Lydia Night details the rise and fall of a relationship—from that first rush of butterflies, through a destructive break-up, to ultimately finding peace and closure.

The album arrives on the heels of a few explosive years for The Regrettes. In 2018, the band— currently rounded out by members Genessa Gariano (22, guitar), Brooke Dickson (24, bass) and Drew Thomsen (22, drums)—released their critically acclaimed Attention Seeker EP, as well the passionate standalone anti-Kavanaugh anthem “Poor Boy,” which ELLE deemed “a feminist call to arms.” The group also dominated the year’s top summer festivals, from Coachella to Reading + Leeds, landing on the covers of LA Times and LA Weekly and earning praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Billboard, USA Today, Variety, and The Guardian. Together, the group has graced the stages of CONAN and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, toured extensively across North America and Europe, and garnered widespread acclaim from NPR, Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, Consequence of Sound, and many more since the 2017 release of their breakthrough debut album, Feel Your Feelings, Fool!

Taking that momentum in stride, The Regrettes are excited to move into their next era. Night, who wrote the vast majority of lyrics on How Do You Love?, came up with the idea after writing a group of songs about her experiences in various real-life relationships. From there, she says, she “realized that they all fit together and tell a story.”

This story begins with a spoken-word poem, as Night diagnoses the listener as being “infected” with a “love disease.” From there, the album is off to the races: the first song is the recently released standout “California Friends,” a danceable track about the excitement—and the nerves—that come with meeting someone new. “[It’s about] not knowing your feelings towards that person, really,” Night says, “but your gut is telling you that you like them, or love them, but you just know that it’s not what’s easiest [for you].”

A little less than halfway through the record, with the sauntering “Stop and Go,” Night pumps the breaks a bit: “Stop before we lose control,” she sings, “Let’s take a breath before we go, go, go.” She explains that the song is about realizing that her new relationship isn’t perfect: “A lot of times,” she says, “at the beginning of a relationship, there’s just nothing wrong. But then the problems start popping up. [You discover] there’s a lot you don’t like about the person—a lot of [qualities] you don’t think you can be with.”

By “Dead Wrong,” these problems have become insurmountable for Night. And in the last quarter of the record (“Go Love You,” “Hasn’t Hit You,” and “Here You Go”), she makes the decision to leave—and she’s not looking back. “I feel strong in this decision and I am right,” she says of the emotion that inspired those latter songs. “I’m doing what’s best for myself—have you learned that yet for yourself?”

Although Night ends up alone in her story, the tone of the album’s closer (and title track), “How Do You Love?” is hardly bitter. Instead, it’s a self-reflection on the journey of falling in and out of love—with hope for the future: “It’s about finding bravery through [love],” Night says. “It’s about learning and accepting that, yes, you went through a shitty breakup, but that’s amazing—because all that means is next time you’re in a relationship, you know so much more about yourself and about what you want.”

Returning to Night’s original diagnoses of the listener being “infected” with love, the record makes it very clear that The Regrettes are infected, too—but that’s not a bad thing. The band hopes that the album will provide “the cure,” by showing listeners that no matter how they’ve experienced love—whether it’s romantic, platonic, or self-love—they’re never alone.


ABOUT ALEX LAHEY

An Australian singer/songwriter with a sardonic streak and a flair for crafting melodically charged and relatable pop-punk anti-anthems, Alex Lahey broke through in 2016 with her instant-classic ‘You Don’t Think You Like People Like Me’. Since then she has released two Top 30 ARIA-charting albums, I Love You Like a Brother in 2015 and 2019’s The Best of Luck Club. In 2021, Alex returned with her explosive single ‘Spike the Punch’, which The New York Times called a “potent blast of sweetly spring-wound power-pop”. Lahey has also recently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and wrote & performed original music for the Oscar-nominated animated film The Mitchells vs. The Machines. Her highly anticipated third album is expected in late 2022.

 

Wisconsin Pop Fest

Kat and the Hurricane ✱ 
Kat and the Hurricane is a queer synth pop rock band from Madison, WI. They make music of every genre for every gender.
Seasaw
Seasaw is an indie-pop duo based in Madison, WI.
Bear in the Forest
The songs of Bear in the Forest, led by singer-songwriter, Alberto Kanost, howl with spiritualism. His craft is folk music at its core. But with different collaborators and waves of exploration, the sound frolics through many genres.
LINE
LINE is a multi-genre, collaborative music project by artist Maddie Batzli. Maddie works as a solo artist and with bandmates Esther Chun, Austin Lynch, and Will Ault to create songs ranging between reflective contemporary folk, moody indie rock, and electric synth pop. Personal reflection, queer love, and social commentary show up as common themes in LINE’s songs. Beyond the music, what makes LINE special is the apparent joy the band takes in playing together, and the chemistry that results from that friendship and shared drive. LINE operates under the premise that music is a means to collective healing and transformation.
Pink Halo

A lot of things make Wisconsin great. We could write a novel about it. But we are a music promoter, and showcasing the diverse musical artistry that comes pouring out of our state makes us more proud than any beer or cheese ever could. Wisconsin Fests are dedicated to celebrating prolific artists that are all proud to call our state home.

Take a chance on any of these nights all for only $15, and we promise you’ll be impressed by what you see and hear. Come out and show some love for the music that helps shape our culture. Also, we will have BEER (and whiskey and other things!)

Please note that The Sylvee, High Noon Saloon, Majestic Theatre, and Orpheum Theater are requiring all fans to provide proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of the show. Proof of vaccination includes either an original vaccination card, a copy of your vaccination card, or a picture of your vaccination card that will be matched with your ID. In accordance with current Dane County Public Health guidelines, this performance will also require masks regardless of vaccination status. Additional policies may apply on a show-by-show basis. More details available at here.

Jukebox The Ghost

Please note that Majestic Theatre, High Noon Saloon, Orpheum Theater, and The Sylvee are requiring all fans to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours OR full vaccination for entry to all events at the venue moving forward. Additional policies may apply on a show-by-show basis. More details available here.

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Gang of Youths: Angel In Realtime Tour

Based on the latest local guidelines, attendees are no longer required to provide proof of negative COVID-19 test AND/OR vaccination for entry into this event. Other shows on our calendar may still have specific health and safety requirements based on artist request.  Be sure to check our venue website for the latest updates and guidelines as entry requirements are subject to change. 

ABOUT GANG OF YOUTHS

Gang Of Youths frontman David Le’aupepe isn’t like other singers. A charismatic man apart,
a creative livewire who’s a deep thinker at the same time as being an incessant talker, a
militant look-forwarder who has no intention of resting on any of the success his band have
achieved over the past decade.
Take this answer to a question about his group’s back catalogue, for instance. “I don’t want
to hear the last two albums,” he says. “I want to wake up in a world where they didn’t
happen.”
But they did happen, so let’s have a quick recap: Gang Of Youths were formed in Sydney,
Australia in 2011 by Le’aupepe and some like-minded mates. Within months of their first
gig, they’d started to attract a rabid fanbase enraptured by their expansive, widescreen take
on indie-rock, the sort of black magic music that manages to feel universal and personal at
the same time. They honed this sound over two records, on 2015’s The Positions and 2017’s
Go Farther In Lightness, and won four of Australia’s prestigious ARIA Awards on the back of
their Platinum-selling second album. Word spread further afield too, helped by an extensive
support tour in the US and Europe supporting Mumford & Sons. They relocated to London
towards the end of 2017, all living in a house together in Angel, North London. Their current
line-up is completed by Max Dunn (bass), Jung Kim (guitar, keyboards), Donnie Borzestowski
(drums) and Tom Hobden (keyboards, guitar, violin).
“After the first album, we were getting pushed and pulled a little bit,” Le’aupepe says. “In
Australia we got too big, I think.” Living in the UK has given him the chance to reassess what
he wants from being in a band and where he wants Gang Of Youths to go next. “Instead of
trying to play to every seat in the house, I realised I wanted to play for an audience of one. I
spent so much of my early twenties giving too much of a fuck about what people thought.”
The band had planned to have a creative reset before COVID enforced a downing of tools in
early 2020. They took it as a sign for complete artistic overhaul. “I think it’s been challenging
for us, this whole process,” says Dunn, “but it’s probably going to be good for our music.
We’ve gone in a less safe direction and it’s going to be more in line with Dave’s actual vision,
rather than Dave pumping something out to get a deadline met.” “We’re exploring so many
different territories and sides of ourselves and that’s manifesting in the music,” adds Kim.
“We’re doing things that have never really made an appearance in Gang Of Youths.”
Gang Of Youth’s new music fuses their knack of soaring melodies, indelible hooks and
dynamic rock uplifts with a love of neoclassical, minimalist composers and experimental
sampling. They’re embarking on the most vital phase of their career so far. “We’re trying to
use a lot of samples of indigenous music recorded by a guy named David Fanshawe,”
explains Le’aupepe. Fanshawe was an English composer and globe-trotting musicologist
who compiled a comprehensive archive of indigenous music. “I reckon his family have got
vaults and vaults of the shit he recorded when he went to the Pacific.”
Moving into their own studio in Hackney has given the group an excuse to go deep-diving
with new ideas. “It’s life-changing,” says Dunn. “You can come in and try and a random
instrument on a random part for four hours on your own, and you’re not wasting an
engineer’s time or costing the band money.” “There’s not the pressure of a studio
environment to workshop a song,” adds Borzestowski.
For Le’aupepe, working in their own studio and learning how to engineer and produce
themselves has been a liberating experience, all part of a collaborative new approach in the
band. “The songs feel more written together, structurally at least, which is something that
never happened before.”
Lyrically, the new material inhabits a similarly fascinating space. Le’aupepe will tell you that
he’s had writer’s block for five years, but he’ll also shift mesmerically through the gears as
he explains the themes of these songs, tracks about his relationship with his father, who
died recently, about Pacific identity, marriage, colonisation, missed conversations, life and
how it all boils down to those innocuous small print moments. “Lyrically, I used to wait to be
all grandiose and romantic, big fucking sweeping fields of Bruce Springsteen-isms and Nick
Cave,” says Le’aupepe. “Now I want to put beauty to the nothingness of most
conversations.”
Despite and indeed because of frontman Dave Le’aupepe’s father’s absence, his influence
permeates every talking point that the album offers. At times it’s solely focused upon the
precise, personal experiences of loss: the dichotomy of intensity and peace that comes as
someone passes through their final days; the overwhelming feeling in the wake of their
death that life will never be the same, even if the rest of the world at large remains utterly
unchanged.
Although the album is eclectic – influences range from American minimalism and
contemporary classical, to drawing upon the legacy of Britain’s alternative/indie scenes,
from drum ‘n’ bass to the most transcendent moments of Britpop – it’s equally rooted in
Le’aupepe’s Samoan heritage, with the majority of tracks featuring samples from David
Fanshawe’s recordings of indigenous music from the Polynesian islands and the wider South
Pacific.
Living in Angel and London has had an effect on these songs, too. The theme of angels is a
recurring symbol in their new music. “It’s a very London album,” says Dunn. For Le’aupepe,
moving to the UK capital offered the opportunity to disappear into a city of millions. “It just
feels like a nice place to be private. It’s a good place to blend in.”
Often, bands who taste success early in their career, as Gang Of Youths did with huge sales
in their homeland, fall into the trap of turning into a photocopy of a photocopy of
themselves. Every decision becomes wrought with the fear that it might all fall apart. Gang
Of Youths are setting fire to the photocopier instead. “I don’t have to try and remake the
same album 50 times. I just want to invest time in new sounds and being open to the
world,” says Le’aupepe. “We just wanted autonomy to fuck around.”
Singers in rock bands rarely require a second invitation to wax lyrical about their success
and life in the glorious limelight. Rarer still if that singer has all the ingredients for a major
breakthrough sitting in his back pocket: such as, say, three captivating studio albums and a
burgeoning mass of diehard fans.
But Le’aupepe operates in the here and now. Gang Of Youths are making new music that is
primed to connect with the masses; crafting songs that match the age-old anthemic thrills of
rock music with a forward-thinking approach.

**POSTPONED** Jeff Rosenstock

Jeff Rosenstock at Majestic Theatre on January 24, 2022 has been postponed. Your ticket will be honored for the rescheduled date when announced. For any further ticket inquiries please reach out to point of purchase.

Upon artist request, Jeff Rosenstock at the Majestic Theatre on January 24, 2022 will require proof of full COVID-19 vaccination for entry. A negative COVID-19 test result will not be accepted. In accordance with current Dane County Public Health guidelines, this performance will also require masks regardless of vaccination status. Additional policies may apply on a show-by-show basis. More details available here.

ABOUT JEFF ROSENSTOCK

NO DREAM is the fourth full-length from Jeff Rosenstock. It comes at a time of unparalleled chaos and
confusion, division and despair, the depths of which would have been impossible to predict when much
of it was being written over the course of the last few years. And yet the record feels prescient,
unexpectedly and uniquely suited for this moment.

“It was feeling like a very personal record for me,” says Rosenstock, newly settled in Los Angeles after a
lifetime on the opposite coast. “A lot of it was stemming from the anxiety I was feeling from the last two
years, this existential crisis of wondering who I am.” Rosenstock has found himself in a surprising
position. As he puts it simply: “I didn’t expect to be doing well, in my life, ever.”

After building a cult following with the acerbic ska-punk of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches and DIY heroics
of Bomb the Music Industry!, Rosenstock’s first proper solo record, 2015’s We Cool?, was a step into
uncharted territory, fully untethered from genre and expectation. Followed by 2016’s WORRY. and the
surprise New Year’s Day launch of POST- in the early hours of 2018, Rosenstock was facing down that
least punk of opportunities: a career playing music.

“I got so used to putting out records that only a few people in the punk underground liked,” he says.
“And a lot of people in the punk underground also didn’t like them, either.” Except things have changed,
and NO DREAM arrives with an entirely new set of expectations in an entirely new era. The greatest
surprise is that Rosenstock’s deeply personal self doubt is expressed in a way that captures a universal
feeling of shock and uncertainty, his own growing anxieties about his place in the world holding space
for our own. “I was trying to not be afraid of using phrases that weren’t immediately clear to me, aside
from how they sounded and felt, then allowing them to reveal themselves over time.”

The resulting songs would be recorded once again with Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Hard Girls, Joyce
Manor) at the Atomic Garden, where Rosenstock took on mixing duties alongside Shirley for the first
time. Opting to stay off the computer “even more than usual” and record to tape with outboard gear,
the result is a lived-in sound that gives each song its own individual voice and organic energy. “Scram!”
pulls from the overdriven guitar sound of Kerplunk in its mash-up of chugging palm mutes and Weezer
melodies, while “Old Crap” mines the pop-punk of Rosenstock’s youth and dares to drop a classic “pick it
up!” rallying cry.

“Music is all vocabulary – you learn new words but you don’t forget the old ones,” he says. Having taken
some time away from his work as a solo artist to recalibrate and reset over the last year, Rosenstock
stayed busy playing alongside Mikey Erg, recording and touring with the Bruce Lee Band, releasing a Neil
Young covers record with frequent collaborator Laura Stevenson, reissuing two of his own out-of-print
early albums, compiling a live album and 76 page photo book, and scoring over 80 episodes of the
Cartoon Network series Craig of the Creek. In fully returning to his own voice, it’s no surprise that
Rosenstock’s output has never been more eclectic, reflected across NO DREAM’s 13 songs.

Ultimately, it’s the title track, with its breakneck pivot from dreamy Mazzy Star to careening Minor
Threat, that gives the album its aching heart. “You can’t help it. You can’t stop it. You see these atrocities
and want it to end. But it’s not going to stop, and when that feeling sets in it’s a full-on panic freak-out.”
It may not be a hopeful message, but it’s one that ties together the sense of impending doom and gives
it direction, voicing a rage that many struggle to articulate.

“I thought I had just made a record for no one,” he says. “What’s the point of feeling this way? Does it
help to vocalize it?” Rosenstock’s rhetorical question is answered by NO DREAM, an accidentally
universal record for a damaged, difficult time.

 

BOY BAND REVIEW

For fans of: Backstreet Boys, N*SYNC, & One Direction

Boy Band Review – Is the best Boy Band Tribute Show in the country! Bringing full production lights, video, dancing, harmonies and energy, Boy Band Review has captured the hearts of fans with their #boyband shows that transport audience members back in time to the days of frosted tips and hunky frontmen professing their undying love.

Bringing some sweet hip thrusts and air grabs performed perfectly “N SYNC”, Boy Band Review, helps you relive the best years.

The #boyband shows  are an incredible throw back experience with dancers and back up singers where the audience members relive the best years!  They are playing to capacity crowds throughout the Midwest and spreading nationwide. They have played numerous high profile events, private engagements, a Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood Casino, the NHL Stadium Series Classic Blackhawks game, and countless venues across the country to capacity crowds.  Boy Band Review is everyone’s favorite show since the 1990s!

 

80s vs 90s: 10 Years of Decade Battles!

It’s been 10 years since we took over the Majestic, and it’s also been 10 years since the debut of what has become Madison’s favorite retro dance party:  80s VS 90s Music Video Battle of the Decades.  On Friday September 29th, the founding fathers of 80s VS 90s, DJs Nick Nice and Mike Carlson are returning to do this 80s VS 90s up the way it was conceived — in the ULTIMATE battle of the decades.  Nick Nice will represent the 80s, and Mike Carlson will represent the 90s, taking you on a tour of the greatest dance party jams from both decades.  Expect everything from Michael Jackson to Salt ‘n Pepa, Britney Spears to Madonna, Run DMC to Notorious BIG, Prince, Beastie Boys, NSYNC, Duran Duran to Blink 182 and SOOO much more!  Which decade will win this 10 year celebration of dance??  Only YOU can decide — be there at midnight to vote your favorite decade!  This is 80s VS 90s.
CONFIRMED GUEST LIST INCLUDES:
• AC Slater
• Marty McFly
• Cyndi Lauper
• Alf
• Robocop
• DJ Jazzy Jeff
• Alicia Silverstone
• Madonna
• 2 Pac
• George Constanza
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