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The archive nut/king has been busy. With Cracker Duo on tour, we have more choices than usual for fresh picks. Personally, I attended and recorded the two Wisconsin shows (with a lot of assistance in Milwaukee from my friend Jason of Team Pickle. Which is to say that he actually did most of the
work.)
The Milwaukee show at Shank Hall had cocktail tables covering the floor area of the club, so it was a sit-down affair. During the encore break, I mentioned to Clint, Cracker’s tour manager and merch guy for the run, that I figured Madison would be a “more raging” crowd. Well I didn’t realize how right I was. The Madison show at the High Noon Saloon had only a few tables on the main floor, and all in the back half of the room.
The standing crowd up front was in a very wild mood, and so the sound of the recordings those two nights could hardly be more different. The Milwaukee crowd listened quietly and respectfully, and held their applause for between songs. The Madison crowd was drunk and obnoxious! How could this happen???
So for the pick. I like rowdy shows, but the fun atmosphere doesn’t always translate on the recordings. This time around, Milwaukee definitely beat Madison for good tapes. Just on the basis of intrusive crowd hollering! Madison is fine, but Milwaukee is kickass. The other nice thing about this week’s pick is that after playing the tune, Johnny asked David to clarify the story behind the song’s origin. David confirmed that Johnny’s version of the events was on-the-mark, and added a nice little tip to add a little mystery to some strangers’ day. Check it out – “Dr. Bernice, that’s no lady doctor!”
