Summerfest 7/6/11

Venue: Summerfest, as previously reviewed. I like this stage a little better. (The rock stage)

Crowd: (3/6)Not bad. A little dead for the 8:00 show but overall a decent festival crowd. The crowd energy was fantastic during Sick Puppies; however, I attribute that to Sick Puppies and not to the Crowd. Surprisingly, lively for the 6:30 show, though and that was definitely the crowd, not the artist. For the 8:00 show the crowd was horrible.

The line up:

5:00pm: Litmus Vinyl (3.5/6)-- I came in during this set and spent most of the time running around and getting settled in to my camping spot. As a result I didn’t give them enough attention to give a detailed review. On top of this the band had some nasty technical issues regarding sound balance.
The front man had excessive amounts of energy and was a lot of fun on stage, very dynamic. The band’s overall sound was not one that I usually listen to so it took me a little work to really hone in on what worked and didn’t work about this band. They had a retro-folk sound that, while catchy didn’t quite grab my attention.

The vocals were sub-par, but palatable and had the instrumentation to match. I particularly noticed that the keyboards sounded off. If it weren’t electronic, I’d say it sounded out of tune, however given how hard it is for an electric keyboard to be out of tune, I’m going to assume that was intentional. It sounded like an attempt to mimic steel drums. I didn’t feel like the keyboardist had a firm enough mastery of her instrument to branch out into a different sound and it took her an undue amount of effort to stay on task.

The saxophonist was very good, and brought a nice addition to the sound. I didn’t think he pushed his talent too hard. I find one of the pitfalls of horn instruments is the tendency to try to hard for the showy sounds that their instruments make. The results are often closer to the previously reviewed Kids These Day, than to anything significantly impressive. This saxophonist knew how to balance the impressive with the more basic elements.

The guitar work was solid but made no impressions either way.

Overall, I would say a good listen, however they did not translate well to the album.

6:30 Soil (3/6)-- I wish I could give this band a lower rating, as I really don’t care for a lot of band in the Macho Rock subgenera as they have an arrogant, disrespectful attitude toward their fans, and frankly put I’ve seen bands produce this sound better with more class. However for that subgenre they were decently talented, though the front man was fairly inarticulate and more arrogant than his popularity granted him. The guitar work was passable, but most of their sound blended together in a discordant way. To their credit the front mans lack of articulation could be partly attributed to the sound balance issues that Summerfest was having. His attempts at the classic rock/ metal grunts and gravely tone came off as an attempt to copy the artists who originally made that sound, not as an attempt to make his own sound.

The bass work was pleasant, however and gave the band a little more depth than they would have otherwise had.

I also found their lyrics inane with an attempt to be profound without actually succeeding.

I’m going to go on to the next band now, as otherwise I’m just going to devolve into ranting about this genre.


8:00 Me talk Pretty (4/6)--

I have to say one thing that isn’t related to the act itself, but I find reflects well on the character of the leading woman.

After we saw Sick Puppies (reviewed below) my girlfriend twisted her knee getting off the bleacher and we had to get the first aid people. While I was out getting help, Uliana asked if my girlfriend was all right, and if she needed help. In a world were musicians are often treated as royalty, she didn’t have to do that. She could have just walked by. She chose to help. That says a lot about how classy this woman is.

Me Talk Pretty was the find of the festival for me this Summerfest. Front woman Uliana’s voice is fantastic-- reminiscent of the woman of symphonic metal and rock. She was also a lot of fun on stage, very energetic and tried to keep the crowd engaged. She was also very good at brushing off the rude comments a few drunk members of the crowd offered (Protip guys: Yelling ”take it off“ just because the singer is female does not earn you any points with nearby women, in fact it could get you mauled) Uliana had a euro-pop star feel to her and was a lot of fun to listen to. However, it is clear she is still a young artist and lacks a lot of the stage presence that her more experienced counterparts have. Specifically her moves on stage look very rehearsed and stilted. I also felt her band was not quite on par with her voice live.

Having listened to them now a little on Youtube, I’ve determined that it’s the drummer that is off. I couldn’t quite place it since overall the band was solid, not fantastic, but solid. They also should improve on their give and take and the technical elements of the guitar work. I can certainly see the talent there but in order to really succeed I think that the band needs to step up their game to match their singer.


10:00: Sick Puppies (5/6). After seeing Sick Puppies it always feels like something has been set right in my heart. They are an absolute pleasure to see every single time. As they are only a three person band, each member gets their moment to shine and even when they’re playing together each piece is clear.

I rave about basis Emma Anzai every time hear her play. She is a force all unto herself. From her fierce slap bass to her soft sultry voice and her powerful dynamic movement Emma is the only bassist I’ve seen live with that kind of hold on the audience. I’ve also seen her come out of her shell quite a bit since the first time I met her last year. Moving from shy to a much more confidant, professional woman, Emma has found her place in the band nicely.

Singer Shimon Moore is a character on stage. Between his amazing voice, his sense of humor and his knack for getting even the more passive members of the audience moving there are very few artists on his caliber. He also has a genuine desire to make his fans happy. He’s also very articulate on stage and has a natural knack for knowing when to talk and when to play. He’s also adapted his tone to really drive the show forward.


I often forget to be appreciative of Mark Goodwin as the drum work blends so smoothly into the rest of the music that I often forget how much talent it takes to be as good a drummer as mark. Like the others in the band, he has a sense of humor and can often be seen tossing a drumstick in the air and trying to catch it again. A master of both the traditional drum kit and the bongos, Mark is a welcome addition the Sick Puppies family.

That, by the way, is exactly what I would call this lovely little band. A family. They work so flawlessly together that it seems like they were born to play together. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us next. (If monster is any indicator we are in for a really interesting album next)