Placed in the intimate setting of the backlit Miramar Theater on Oakland Avenue, Roster McCabe and Ifdakar played consecutively on Friday, February 24th, 2012. Ifdakar blasted off the evening with a “comfortably secure set that would appeal to new faces and fans in attendance to see Roster McCabe,” said Curt Biese, the left guitarist/synth member.
With a combination of Instrumental jams and reggae sing-songs, Ifdakar tailored quite a variety of playing styles. These Madison stationed modest Appleton rock stars originated a four-piece matchless jam group that create their own distinctive FUNKtioning rhythmic style. Part of the IfdaInc Record Label, and influenced by bands such as Phish, Lotus, STS9, String Cheese Incident, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and Railroad Earth these guys are gearing up for their upcoming festival, IfdaKamp, held on Whispering Hills in Kiel, WI on June 14th- 16th, 2012.
“We encored with one of our favorite songs of all time to play, ‘Kool-Aid Man,’ which always amps the energy of the crowd up,” said Biese. “This was the third song we ever wrote, so it’s nice to see new and old faces really getting down to something we produced years ago, yet, still has the ability to hit it’s pinnacle in our current spectrum.”
Roster McCabe’s simplified spectacle troop dimmed the lighting, cut the lasers, “axed the cables,” and powered off the visual displays for a friendly cherished set. This five-piece reggae funk rock band out of Minneapolis, Minnesota was deemed as “One of five up-and-coming jam bands that could draw audiences to the festivals of tomorrow,” by Billboard Magazine. With a new album out, ‘Through Space and Time,’ these guys are on the road to Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Beyond playing at venues such as Be Here Now, The Loft, and Woodland’s Tavern! The mysterious diffused visual techniques aided in the scene setting, complimenting the bands’ vintage tone theme. Roster dramatically covered the joyful sounds of the legendary Led Zeppelin song, Kashmire, in its’ entirety. Epic!
The crowd that evening was blended among an apparent Miramar crowd, devoted fans there specifically for one or more of the acts, and a young professional or middle-aged crowd, possibly family members or longtime friends or fans of these gifted musicians. Regardless of their label, the entire audience formed a connection and maneuvered through the tunes. The music hall portion was packed as well as the majority of the seating area; the entry and bar area as well as the Stage Right bar were manageable to jive through fairly seamlessly during show time.
Also, a pleasantly agitating decision for some, because in addition to the fascinating presentations held at the Miramar that Friday, another Milwaukee favorite, Undercover Organism was also slotted for their gig at the swanky two story lounge club, Fire on Water, located in downtown Milwaukee. This overlap may have instigated a tossup for some fans in appreciation for both respected local groups as well as other events taking place that evening.
The security staff at the show were acting with vibes of intensity, and intimidation, which has its’ benefits when geared at the right audience, but it really took away from the experience of the show that particular night. When paying fans have their eyes shut, head slightly tilted back about 30 degrees, with huge smiles on their faces jammin’ out to the performance and they are abruptly nudged by a security guard carrying a 10 pound flashlight running through the crowd like a dosed out 12 year old carrying five Red Bulls, looking for his binky at a Datsik concert, it begins to reach levels of annoyance. However, I also am aware of the necessity of the security staff at all venues. While some are contracted Police Officers, some are interested music coinsures, some are mainstream bouncers, and others are there to genuinely make sure the attendees are safe and the shows go as planned. Music venues have alternating lineups at a constant rate, and these diverse genres attract diverse crowds, therefor security is necessary.
The evening of Roster McCabe & Ifdakar the security guards acted overpowering to an audience that did not pose a threat. They were approaching everyone in attendance, prying for them to open their bags, check their pockets, smell their water bottles, check can sizes…haha you almost have to laugh, but then not really because they do it for reasons of the past due to people who ruined it for current and future music enthusiasts.. Enough of this rant.
The acoustics during Roster McCabe came across with a direct tone that caused the audio to appear slightly sharper than necessary, granted the involvedness of a smaller venue crew, all the same, the sound board team worked to find a tolerable balance.
Accompanied by a grand turnout and highly regarded crowd, this event generated encouraging compensation and positive memories for the mass. I presume the Miramar would take pleasure in having both bands revisit, yet again.
To perpetuity and afar!
