[chicagodan]

Well, let me start by saying the guys were great, and perhaps I'm a bit spoiled by the good venues and music fans in Chicago, so take the review with a grain of salt.

We showed up at about 8:30 to scope out the room & pick up some merch. We quickly discovered there would be no beer/drinks available so I grabbed a hat and a copy of the euphoria cd (which is AWESOME by the way, and the others weren't yet available) and we headed around the block to a bar since the second act hadn't hit the stage yet we enjoyed some beverages and anxiously awaited the main act.

When we returned we were amazed at/shocked by the venue. It had the look and feel of a high school cafeteria, so we were a little aprehensive about how it would turn out. We were also shocked at the small turnout (I think alot of people must have had the same idea as us though, because it filled in a bit more once dada hit the stage - but still probably no more than 200 people?) Once dada started playing though, it was great, as good as ever. However, due to "time constraints" the show was fairly short, somewhere over an hour. I was a bit disappointed at hearing that, as they've been playing some LONG shows recently, and we missed out on alot of our favorites as well as any of the new material.

But, limited dada is better than no dada. Seeing them for the third time in a few months, plus the hat and cd made the trip up to cheeseland well worth the effort!

So, to summarize, dada rules, Phil ROCKS, and the venue sucked.

[tick]

well, let's face it...
It is obvious that the more people that show..the longer they play.
I really hope to get a full treatment when I get to see them.
Energy is the key!!!!!!!!!!!!

[johngalt]

Saw dada in rockford the night before milwaukee. They were awesome, the absolute best I have ever seen them. Funny you singled out Phil, what in the hell has gotten into him?!!The man is playing like he's possessed! In reference to the dissapointing length of your show, I think Gurley might be a little hurtin. He tweeked his arm sumpn fierce after the Rockford show. So maybe the man saw there wasn't any drinks, nobody's there, why play his arm off when you got Chi-town the night after?

[chicagodan]

Yeah, but if it was local ordinances or club rules or whatever, I would have hoped whoever booked the show would've either started the show earlier, used only one opener, or at least made one of the opening acts shorten their set rather than limit the main act to a shorter set.

Nevertheless, I see they're coming back to park west and you can bet I'll be there!!

[strangestplaces]

Hello everyone,

This is Jon from the band Strangest Places -- the opener in Milwaukee that you didnt see because you were getting beer.

(btw - Is music still important anymore? or just getting liquor?)

I'm a little troubled -- to say the least -- about some of your posts.

Let's hope this clears things up.

#1: Dada had a 90 minute set. This was determined by Dada.

Let me say this again, so it sinks in.

The 90 min. set was determined by Dada.

Openers had nothing to do with it. We made our set with World Without Sundays according to what Dada's management wanted.

There was no curfew. How do i know?
*I* am the one who brought them to Milwaukee. They asked for 90 minutes in their contract. We had nothing to do with it. Also, the audience had nothing to do with it.

In my opinion, the boys were trying to be polite by saying there was a curfew. They could've just said: "We're exhausted," but they didn't because they're classy artists.

Look, I talked to Michael Gurley at length after the show, and he said:

"We'd love to play every song off of every album if we could..." but (paraphrased): the truth is that with so many shows in a row and with the wears and tears of the road, they just cant swing the full 2 hour 30 min. set every night.

Dude, Gurley got hurt in Rockford. Cut him and Milwaukee some slack!

You wouldve gotten the same length show had they played in heaven. So Park West has nothing to do with it. (yes, i was at that show earlier this year, too, and the longer set was great)

#2 - The venue - this was my first time playing a show here, ever. It looked pretty kick-ass to me. If it looked like a cafeteria, maybe you had too many beers.

All of the guys said they loved the stage that night + that the sound was perfect.
(I agree)

It was the best sounding Dada show i've ever seen (even if they didn't play over 90 mins). And i've seen 12 Dada shows.

Whomever said Rockford was better is really out of touch. That venue had -- at most -- 100 people there, and the sound was god-awful.

#3 - The turnout - True, was disappointing. Only 200 people... but not for lack of advertising. This show was advertised in Rockford, Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, Green Bay, on 5 websites (including the biggest one in the state of wisconsin, and dada's) had 5 write ups, and was on 6 radio stations. I guess Milwaukee fans dont care about good music. And i guess dada fans just dont want to make the drive from Chicago. I know the Rockford fans all said they didnt feel like driving that far, when we were handing out flyers after the gig. A very big disappointment indeed.

-jon

[johngalt]

Well color me corrected. Although, I thought they sounded great in Rockford.

[chicagodan]

I realize 2 1/2 hour sets nightly is not a pace they could maintain throughout the tour, especially with rockford, milwaukee, and park ridge all in a short time frame. Just jealous I guess we didn't get the 2-3 hour performance.

Jon-
That place DID look like my jr high cafeteria, and no I didn't have too many drinks, as I mentioned they didn't sell any in the "club".
I agree they did sound great though, and I can't wait to see them again in October.
Yes music is important, and Sorry we missed your band, but after capping off a brutal week with a long day on Friday, then hours of driving up from chicago in the rain, some people like to relax with a drink before/during seeing their favorite band play....which I gladly would have done at the show, but it wasn't possible.
Thanks for bringing them back to the area though...and as I mentioned, I did make the drive from chicago. Are you opening for them at park west in october?

[strangestplaces]

I think we just disagree then, man. I guess marble and art deco aren't everyone's piece of cake... which is fine.

I just felt like our show was getting some unfair criticism, so i had to speak up...

As for the longer sets: i think we're going to have to look for those on nights after they've had a little bit of a break (in between gigs).

I totally feel for them, though. It's gotta be a real strain on the vocal chords to jump from climate to climate like that (esp. with the major drop in degrees up here lately), and then have the weird sleep schedules from playing every night.

Im glad you made the drive from Chicago, though, i just wish others would've followed suit. Hopefully we can do it again down the line.

Unfortunately, Strangest Places isnt on the Park West bill, but we may play with them again in the not too distant future...
Cant say for sure yet.

You'll definitely find me in the audience though. (hoping they bring Dog into the set!)

~Jon

[twangster]

I though the Milwaukee venue was cool and had great sound. I certainly didn't mind not having any alcohol. I did see them the nite before in Rockford and that was the third time this year. I though there they were magical!! I was the guy wearing a Packer sweatshirt at the bar, standing up a little on my chair. From there the sound was not bad, better than St. Charles. Back to Milwaukee, thank you Jon from strangestplaces for bringing them to Milwaukee and I really enjoyed your music. Can I get a CD off your web site?
Being a guitar player, I was right in front of Michael as I wanted to watch him play. He certainly didn’t have a perfect nite but sometimes I don’t either and I’m not playing as much as he is. I’m really concerned about his arms and if he has to take some time off to heal, he should. I’d rather have them miss some shows than miss his playing altogether.
Anyway, see you all at Park West.

[Edited on 9/30/2003 by twangster]

[Laura K:)]

Oh please realize that we're all on the same side.

strangestplaces
I'm proud of you for trying your best to spread the dada name. You are a very special person because you have tried hard!

Chicago Dan
You've helped out before spreading fliers and things around town. Your efforts are also very special.

We all want the boys to do well. I understand that the shows make us feel some very real emotions, but please try to be aware that everyone of us feel very frustrated sometimes when things don't go as planned. You guys have both tried your best. I think that says a ton about you both.
No one said this was going to be easy.
You have to take the day for what it is. Yeah, maybe only 200 people were there BUT if just ONE person saw dada and fell in love with the live show, then that ONE person has the potential to do what you guys have been doing... telling others!
You should both be proud that you enjoy music so much and that you care so much.

Please save that energy to help the boyz Keep on Keepin' on

[twangster]

I scored the setlist from Michael's side of the stage.

Milwaukee Set List Picture

dim
play
sur
trip
feet
here
ask
feel
baby
mary
moon
post
diz
-------
bob
do

[Edited on 10/8/2003 by twangster]

[Edited on 10/8/2003 by twangster]