I was late to Postmodern Jukebox.
For years, I’d hear the group – more of a collective of extremely talented and diverse musicians – doing a stellar re-make of Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” or Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” and I’d smile, but I never dug deeper.
At some point, curiosity got the better of me and I binged the Postmodern Jukebox YouTube channel, watching some of the videos countless times (I’m looking at you Puddles and “Royals”).
I could listen to the group’s smoky version of Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” on repeat all day.
In case you’re even later than me, Postmodern Jukebox is a project founded in 2011 by pianist Scott Bradlee that brings together musicians to create cover versions of contemporary hits in vintage musical styles, from big band swing to rockabilly to soul to doo-wop to dixieland and more.
The group performed at The Pabst Theater on Sunday night as part of its 10 Tour – which also stopped in Madison this summer and will return to Wisconsin Nov. 9 for a gig in Whitewater – marking a decade of taking this PMJ show on the road.
The group played here once before, at Turner Hall, in 2015.
Bradlee describes PMJ as “today’s hits yesterday,” which might make it seem like little more than a novelty. And, surely, it is novel, but I'd argue it’s more than that.
I’ve always thought that cover versions were pointless unless the new version was going to break the mold in some way.
A note for note cover of a song? Why bother? Would you prefer to see someone's copy of a Picasso or the real thing?
Yes, I'm that guy at a concert that is actually excited that I can’t sing along because my favorite artists have torn down their own songs and reconstructed them in a new way for the stage (I’m looking at you Elvis and Bruce).
What I also like is that while they're perhaps dressed in nostalgia, Postmodern Jukebox’s versions of modern hits can be seen as rebukes to stodgy old folks who say things like, “back in my day we had real music.”
Then there’s the talent.
Pick a video, any video and marvel as the musicianship.
Without PMJ, I might never have come across Puddles’ melancholy acoustic version of “Boys Don’t Cry,” which is second only to The Cure’s original.
I’d never have heard Haley Reinhart singing Radiohead’s “Creep.”
When the group performed in Milwaukee Sunday night, the vibe was a little different. Part vaudeville, part Motortown Revue, PMJ featured a six-piece band, with a trio of singers, an emcee and a tap dancer.
Adding further depth was the fact that one of the singers plays a mean saxophone, the drummer is a great singer and so is the emcee.
It reminded me a bit of the variety shows my parents would watch on television in the '70s (minus the comedy skits).
The talent – if not always the performers you've seen in the videos – was undoubtedly there.
While Bradlee himself was not present, he was replaced at the piano by Tony Kieraldo, a Hudson, New York-based Milwaukee native who also plays in Tommy Stinson's band (with fellow Milwaukeean Justin Perkins). Bassist Adam Kubota, who has been part of the touring band since the start, was the musical director.
Onstage in this revue-like setting the performances took on a bit more of a showtunes pomp than they possess in the videos, though the same vocal and instrumental skill, and breadth of musical styles, was on view.
If the gig didn't feel quite as groundbreaking as the videos it was certainly a fun and impressive show, and the large crowd clearly enjoyed every minute of it.
SETLIST:
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Levitating
Lovesong
Radioactive
Harry Potter Suite
Burn
Seven Nation Army
Love Story
Feel Good Inc.
Use Somebody
Say You'll Be There
Black Hole Sun
American Boy
All About That Bass
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
ENCORE:
Creep
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.
