St. Patrick’s Day is one of those annual parties that likes to keep it loose. Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, for example. And, Black 47 celebrates St. Patrick’s Day all month long.
We like it that way, especially since the outspoken, thundering Irish-flavored New York rock outfit includes Shank Hall on its St. Paddy’s tour itinerary on Wednesday, March 14.
The tour coincides with some new Black 47 action, including the reissue of “Bittersweet 16,” a 16-song look back at the band’s career since 1990. It includes “Downtown Baghdad Blues,” a song that has been garnering extra attention lately. The disc also includes two new tunes, “Southside Chicago Waltz” and “Joe Hill’s Last Will.”
Meanwhile, frontman Larry Kirwan has launched Celticlounge.com, a Web site aimed at fostering a Celtic online community.
“I was driving back to Manhattan from Cleveland and dozing with still over 400 miles to go,” Kirwan recalled of the site’s gestation. “I knew there had to be an easier way to reach an audience. Our goal in launching this space is to redefine what it means to be a Celt by changing the way Celtic artists deliver their work to a people deeply in love with their roots.”
The Sandcarvers open the 8 p.m. show. Admission is $20. Bring earplugs, having witnessed Black 47 at Shank Hall, I can vouch for thunderous pump of the kick drum.
Let The Strokes comparisons fly, but Canada’s Tokyo Police Club has its own vibe. The band, whose 16-minute EP, “A Lesson in Crime,” is out now on Paper Bag Records, is a post-punk outfit that has the jagged guitar attack of Gang of Four and the dance-y rattle. Hearing singer David Monks is what will have the cynics shouting “Strokes!”
But don’t let them get you down because you can see for yourself on Wednesday, March 7 when Tokyo Police Club plays at The Rave with Cold War Kids and Delta Spirit. Showtime is 7 p.m.
The following night you can see Haste the Day and From Autumn to Ashes with Maylene & the Sons of Disaster and Alesana. Also on the 6:30 p.m. show is Victory Records outfit The Sleeping, touring on support of its first disc on Victory, “Questions and Answers” as well as the reissue of their previous CD, “Believe What We Tell You.”
The band’s hard-hitting, melodic rock and roll knows how to have a good time. Witness a cover of the Bee Gees’ disco classic, “Stayin’ Alive,” for evidence of that.
Victory’s Spitalfield also comes The Rave, on March 25, as part of a tour promoting the new disc, “New Road Run.” The Allentown, Penn. Band shares support honors with New York’s Pablo as The Hush Sound and Straylight Run co-headline.
Pablo’s “Half the Time,” on Curb Appeal Records, is an acoustic disc that has led to opening slots for Earlimart, Matt Pond PA and Brendan Benson, to name a few. Show time is 7 p.m.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
