Does anyone know where to see a good band in Marquette?
I can’t pinpoint when the quality of the live music scene in Marquette dwindled to borderline insignificance. It might have been when the UpFront and Co. closed in 2012, around the same time that several venues consolidated booking responsibilities to Double Trouble DJs.
Seeing My Dear Disco (who changed their name to Ella Riot in 2011 before disbanding later that year) was the highlight of my local music experience in 2009 and 2010. Gizzae satisfied my craving for authentic Jamaican music at least twice a year until 2012. Funk Junction always brought me to the dance floor with their synthesizer-infused beats and trance-inspiring melodies. But before I realized it, the local music scene devolved into Jersey Shore-inspired fist-pumping Top-40 remixes on weekends, and folky renditions of “Wagon Wheel” on weekdays.
That is not to say there’s a lack of talent in Marquette. Michael Waite is one of the best one-man shows you’ll ever see. Even some of the college-aged acts, including my personal favorites—Funky Purple Tits, Strung Together and Not Quite Canada—provide memorable experiences. The biggest problem is, I’ve seen them too many times.
When’s the last time you were heartstoppingly excited to see a band in Marquette?
The consolidation of bookings has dampened the live music experience, if you can call playlists with five consecutive Avicii remixes a “live music experience.”
Don’t get me wrong, these DJs do their job. The Wild Rover and Vera Bar are always packed on weekends by drunk twenty-somethings. But the music is secondary to providing alcohol to spur urges more carnal than kicking off your heels and dancing.
Some weekends, I’d prefer hauling out Flanigan’s karaoke machine and a patron who’s had a few too many can do renditions of “Livin’ on a Prayer” just to ease the monotony of weekends downtown.
What I wouldn’t give to see a band from outside of Michigan, whose music I have on my iPod, not one I’m forced to watch if I’m craving a drink I can’t make at home.
Ore Dock Brewing Company has done an admirable job trying to fill the gap the UpFront’s closure left, booking bands with solid followings in a spacious venue. The Blue Lounge occasionally delves outside local bands and books quality music.
What Marquette really needs is another music venue, or at least one that values music quality over drink sales. I’m accustomed to traveling outside Marquette to see music. Even Houghton landed Greensky Bluegrass last September and Breathe Owl Breathe in November.
I understand there are a lot of external factors to bringing good bands to Marquette, including the booking budget, bands’ schedules, public reception, etc. But one doesn’t have to look far back to see that it was done successfully and consistently in Marquette, and has fallen by the wayside in only two years.
Either a local venue needs to step up, booking acts consistently with reputations beyond the Upper Peninsula, or another venue needs to open to do the same.
If you need me, I’ll be at Flanigan’s, trying to pretend these karaoke connoisseurs are the real thing.
Matt Suomi • Feb 8, 2014 at 9:12 pm
JUST GLAD SOMEONE CARES ENOUGH TO WRITE ABOUT IT…
Whatever scene there may or may not be in Marquette, I’ve been involved in it for almost 30 years. There is decidedly ebb and flow as several have mentioned, each cycle to a different degree, various venues slowly toggling between live and recorded entertainment. A lot of venues (many greater champions of live music than any mentioned in this thread) have closed their doors for one reason or another.
I think the meaning of “scene” also has ebb and flow. Affordable and incredible technology has made home-based music production a much bigger aspect of what musicians are doing these days. Many of the best gigging musicians I know have too many other things going on to go out and gig every weekend. Personally, I’m usually happier playing in a basement with group of musicians than doing it in a bar. None of this makes the scene any less– just less obvious.
As for the author of this opinion piece, I’m glad he wrote it. Hopefully people who read it will do what he is doing: vote with their patronage and consciencely spend their bucks at places and events that support live local music. I know I do.
Jeffrey • Feb 7, 2014 at 7:44 pm
Keep up the good work Marquette! Ive been a purveyor of Shows in this town for 25 years or so and have witnessed the acceptance and growth of our music scene firsthand. With so many small venues and few paid gigs, the talented musicians are playing for fun in basement and living room shows all over town! Gosh, I don’t know why this guy doesn’t get invited to them, perhaps its for the best.
Eris Blackheart • Feb 7, 2014 at 7:18 pm
The local music scene died when the Upfront Closed? BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The Upfront did get some good tunes in there, but that is NOT when the local music scene died. The local music scene died when the 231 burned down to the ground. Different shows and different bands every night – some repeats, but not as frequent as the repeats we have now. I have a lot of friends who are musicians who are way way way better than a lot of these bar bands that we have now – and yes, there are other venues to see local music, some of these other people hit the nail on the head with naming them as well.
Maybe the local music scene for YOU is dying…but for the rest of us, there’s still something left of it – even if it’s not at the places you frequent.
Those of us who remember where all the GOOD shows were, still know where to find them now.
dro • Feb 7, 2014 at 6:00 pm
What some who have remained in Marquette for a while, or who have never played a gig out of town may fail to realize is that you live in a place that is truly isolated. There is no train line, you can’t get there from anywhere by bus, and airfare is outrageous (forget flying with music equipment in the first place). It’s also not on the way to anywhere else, meaning that booking Marquette on a tour basically no sense. Making the trip from truly anywhere is a major boundary, and there is little reason to expect a return on the investment you’d make in gas alone from performing in Marquette. Most of the people I’ve known from throughout the midwest that went up to Marquette to play made the decision based on a personal connection to the area. This is why Marquette’s musical culture has always been its own, and will continue to be its own. You can choose to embrace, and promote the creation of new music among the community here, or move somewhere where regional and national acts can afford to play.
A concerned yooper • Feb 7, 2014 at 1:45 pm
You’re an ill-informed journalist and you have your work cut out for you as a writer. Do your homework before you make such bold assumptions. If you want to represent the U.P. you need to step up your game!
COME ON SMALLS • Feb 6, 2014 at 12:11 pm
First of all, you’re from Marquette and should know better than to say we don’t have a good music scene. Second, your taste in music is so narrow that you have no authority to say whether or not “good” out of town bands visit. Extremely talented bands come to play in Marquette at least once a month and the advertising is not lacking. If you want to see shitty pseudo-reggae and funk bar bands, go to Milwaukee.
Ryan Brandt • Feb 6, 2014 at 11:23 am
Yes, there is lots of good music in Marquette, but it’s a nice change when a professional band with superior talent comes through!! Also all the musicians in Marquette I’m sure can agree a place with descent acoustics and professional grade sound equipment would benefit us all! That is the point of this article. Shout outs to all the hard working and talented musicians in Marquette, you all produce music to my ears. By the way if you call Luke a hipster, you’re probably a hipster (hipster don’t like to admit they’re hipsters).
Name* • Feb 6, 2014 at 2:10 am
As a local Musician in Marquette I’m extremely disappointed to read such a biased
Article that sounds like it was written by a drunken hipster that can’t handle his PBR. If you want a music scene back in town then be supportive of those out there trying to do so. Articles like this do nothing positive for our nightlife. Maybe you should move back home to the city when you graduate…..?
FormerUpfrontSurvivor • Feb 5, 2014 at 7:35 am
Upfront didn’t close because they lost money. That place was a tax write off for its owner. They closed because the drug-addicted, asshole owner gradually grew more and more paranoid that people were stealing from him through his cocaine-fueled haze that things went more and more downhill until the general manager moved on to a better job and the owner shut things down after a three day notice to spite the GM. Marquette didn’t lose their best music venue because it wasn’t profitable.
Abrielle Barber • Feb 4, 2014 at 10:20 pm
I can agree with some of the things that you said. But you also have to look at certain facts and the views of other people. Before writing this article you should have some one on one sit downs with our bar management and owners who know the inner workings of our music in Marquette. I can agree that after the upfront shut down our outside music talent hasn’t been in our local bars. Our town is a college town. For our owners and bars to make money who need to feed there needs or they will go somewhere else. After a long work week I’m more looking for a place where I can dance and have a good time like a lot of these college students. We more target people between the ages of 18 to 30 with our DJs. A lot of our bands are targeting the older crowd. Which the Wild Rover and Vera dont exactly target. I can honestly say that New Wave Nation was a band that all ages came to see. But Double trouble DJs feed our young crowd just as the bars expect. If it’s anyone “Fault” our bar owners should try bringing in talent. Also look at the fact that the Upfront was more than just a bar and restaurant, but a place where they help banquets. So maybe they were a little more secure to be able to pay outside talent to come in. Because not only are you paying for the band to play, but food, hotel and travel. I’m not saying totally agree, but I most certainly disagree because you can’t support all facts. I love you brother.
Dan W. Lawrence • Feb 4, 2014 at 5:49 pm
Marquette music flourishes because of its localized nature. Maybe this is stodgy of me, but I don’t want the trendiest bands of the days to distract from what’s going on with Upper Peninsula musical culture right now. We write and sing our own songs. We draw on old traditions and inflect with the new. We have dedicated, talented artists who have been strumming and howling for decades. We have new bands and acts and recordings springing up in basements, on cassette tapes, and in downtown bars.
I saw Heather Evans at the Rover not long ago, some afternoon, and Troy Graham at the Ramada Inn’s little bar at night. Michael Beauchamp puts on the summer concert series out at Presque Isle. Sycamore Smith sang at Breaker’s some chance night I was wandering, and there’s a certain house where music lives on into the morning. Others, above, have said more than this. There’s endless talent and beauty springing up from the city.
There might not be a dedicated music venue in the area, any longer, since the fire at the House of Muses, but if we were to have such a venue, I’d much rather see it support the infinite passion of our homegrown music. Being a musician in the Upper Peninsula most often means being unpaid and doing it to fill that sinking feeling, that creeping dark that swells when your voice isn’t rattling over a crackling PA. There’s a real reason to sing, up here: to make it through the winter, to celebrate the sun, to look back into time and into the self. To look ahead. We have many genres but so much in common, so much to be heard.
I don’t think Marquette will lack for new music any time soon. Could there be a better infrastructure for musicians to find local gigs and for hungry listeners to learn the whereabouts of these performances? Of course. I play only a handful of shows a year, and I sell a few albums. I keep my job as a teacher. We support each other, though. The cassette split that Troy and I released on Van Party Tapes sold out. There’s a community waiting to emerge. [I’ll put my pessimism about capitalism on the bench for another day.] Could we find a way to hold up local music and simultaneously bring in “big” acts from across the world? Probably, if it were done thoughtfully. But I’m still skeptical, there.
I like what we’re doing in Marquette. There’s a fire, here. It’s not so quiet in the wintry north as some might think.
Rusty Bronze • Feb 4, 2014 at 3:40 pm
I agree completely. Without the radical leaders of the 69% Percent movement, Flaky Laky, the music of Marquette is a pathetic excuse for a bad joke. You’re preachin’ to the choir, doodman!
td • Feb 4, 2014 at 2:11 pm
As an active musician in the music scene of Marquette, I find this spectator view interesting for a few reasons. First, you mention a “craving” for a certain genre of music. If live music satisfies a craving for the listener, then it is by no means monetarily compensated to the musician. And, yes, there are musicians in Marquette who depend on music for their income. So, if your individual craving for a certain genre was quenched, did you do your part to support the band? If not able to support monetarily, you could talk to them after the show and thank them, support them by purchasing their music, sharing their music with friends. This is all common place for how the Marquette audience members treat “out-of-town” bands, and rightfully so–it is exciting to see new people make different music. But the response to local musicians is not as supportive, because they are here, and they’ll be here, maybe you can catch their show next time. What that lackadaisical attitude toward local musicians does is devalue the local musicians’ talents. As you breeze through the brief praise of local musicians in your opinion article, I wonder if the swelled value you place on “out-of-town” acts has to do with the “hype” that you are subject to and operating within. The names you drop of “out-of-town” bands seem to receive more attention than the local bands/musicians in your opinion article. Perhaps, Luke, you have misplaced your enthusiasm in valuing the “hype” around a musical act rather than listening to the music with your ears, developing your own opinions of the music being produced by human beings on a stage, who have rent to pay, bills, classes, and equipment to pay off. It is too bad that hype can be bought and music venues sold, or shut down. The ebb and flow of a “music scene” has many factors–unfortunately, Luke, you are a pessimistic gear in Marquette’s tree-of-music–the local musicians, local music fans, and out-of-town bands that frequent this area must learn to grow through you, around you, maybe even with you. But, no doubt, the music scene will continue to grow with the pendulum of seasons that ebb and flow like the waves on our shore. Please, Luke, keep your head up, good things will come to your specific music tastes. And look out, it sounds like Skunk Fur is mad.
UncleSass • Feb 4, 2014 at 1:06 pm
I suggest that Marquette takes the NYC approach. Have 4 bands/night on Fridays and Saturdays, of which three are local. The three local bands promote the gig to their followers, and the fourth is the bigger ‘name’ act. The first three bands get 45 minute sets, and the headliner gets a full show. Charge 3$ at the door, and if each band brings in 50 people, it starts to look like a good night. If they bring more, then there’s a scene. The night also starts earlier, so drinking begins earlier and the bar takes in more to pay the bands. The other nights can fill up with open mikes, etc. Get the local radio guys to support the shows and venues, and provide some advertising with a calendar. It will work if you have enough bands.
Root Notes • Feb 4, 2014 at 12:56 pm
While there are a couple of valid points made, most of this article is just ridiculous. There are lots of bands/performers in your area, you just have to look harder. Pay attention to all the bulletin boards for flyers. When you do see there’s a show going on, go to it. Use social media to promote it to others who may be interested. Tell all your friends about it and bring them along. While you are there buy some of the band’s merch, even if it is just a sticker. Find the owner of the place and tell them how much you appreciate the music and post good things about it online. Enthusiasm can be contagious. If you don’t like the scene, do everything you can to change it. Maybe you should open a venue.
SS • Feb 4, 2014 at 12:33 pm
I kind of agree with this article. Yea, there are a lot of bands that do house shows, but for people who don’t want to be in a sweaty basement or crammed with a bunch of 19 yr olds, there isn’t much options. We do have a slew of amazing bands out of Marquette and yes, they put on good shows, but sometimes it’s nice to have variety, and in Marquette that is lacking. Also, the bars that do put on live music (God love them) can become crowded with people only there for drinking and socializing, making it hard for the people coming to listen to music to do exactly that… hear the music. I will say this, though. Coming from someone who recently moved away to a larger area, Marquette does surprisingly well with consistent live (and free) music in comparison to other towns greater in size. So whether lacking in variety or venue options, let’s at least be grateful there IS a music scene at all and that we do harbor some damn good musicians.
Former Editor • Feb 4, 2014 at 12:25 pm
And by the way…Skunk Fur disbanded.
Former Editor • Feb 4, 2014 at 12:11 pm
Everyone is entitled to their Opinion (I capitalize it because it is in the Opinion section, not the News)…such scathing remarks are exactly the comments that are sought for by the best Opinion writers out there. Sure, not every “greatest Marquette band” is mentioned, but really…the very people who are offended by the article are students themselves, all who come from different places and all who have different tastes in who they think is truly the best. One of his main points is looking for bands OUTSIDE of local music. Local music is fine, but we’ve had a scant amount of well-known, outside-of-the-Yoop bands come through without massive bills and closed out venues. “Bumpus” came up a few weeks ago and played at the Ore Dock, a really good example of what Luke here is looking for. Local music is fine…but some people just want to see people like “Bumpus” more often than others. People are entitled to their own opinion. Don’t slice ’em down because it doesn’t match yours.
Adam H. • Feb 4, 2014 at 12:05 pm
I love how students move to the area for a couple of years and consider themselves “experts” in the local music scene. Next time you are going to write about the Marquette Music Scene please go somewhere other than Wikipedia for your information.
Adam • Feb 4, 2014 at 12:02 pm
I love how students move to Marquette for a couple years and they think they are “experts” in the local music scene. Please next time you’re going to write a story don’t use Wikipedia for your research.
Dillon • Feb 4, 2014 at 11:26 am
This article is incredibly lazy and irresponsible. Just because Luke Londo is in no way involved with Marquette’s thriving DIY music scene doesn’t mean it’s nonexistent. Every weekend there are young people putting on shows in art galleries, restaurants, basements and on NMU’s campus in Marquette. Last Friday night I attended two shows, boasting performances by acts featuring hip-hop, indie, rock, metal, punk, and any number of other variants. I’d say at least once a month some of these shows host bands from all over the Midwest, sometimes the country.
Maybe do some research next time, Luke. Your lack of it shows how much you do not care about music in and around Marquette.
Jeremy • Feb 4, 2014 at 11:24 am
There is a plethora of great music within the UP and if you keep your ears and eyes open, you should be able to find it. Facebook’s event tab and King Koin Laundromat’s poster-filled windows are both informative sources that can be incorporated into your daily routine with minimal effort. Just about every single weekend, even in the barren and desolate landscape of Marquette, there is at least one show I’m looking forward to that gets me through the week.
Sometimes it’s easier to sit around and identify a problematic issue than it is to provide alternatives or ideas to achieve a goal. If you want to hear music in bars then you have to support the music that’s playing there right now AND the venue that’s sponsoring it. If you want your favorite bands play in Marquette, try to book them. If you REALLY REALLY want to see your favorite band play in Marquette, invest your own money into getting them to come up… then anxiously wait to see if you even come close to breaking even. If you want to see your favorite bands every weekend, grow to love and foster what we do have and soon enough you’ll be singing along to your favorite songs in the bars of Marquette, by bands from Marquette. It’s all a matter of perspective and in this case I think it’s better to be optimistic about what we do have than dwell on what used to be.
Look! Typical Yooper Naivety • Feb 4, 2014 at 11:23 am
Well, this article is garbage and nice to see it spawning more BS talk about why the Upfront closed. Congrats folks you are as bad as the writer of this article (which could be entitled “The scene isn’t handed to me on a silver spoon so it must suck”). At least it looks like writer does appear to have a journalistic future, with the likes of Breitbart/Fox News. The rumormongers, well, I’m sure the church ladies will have a spot for you to gossip at Big Boy.
Michelle • Feb 4, 2014 at 10:22 am
There are a lot of great bands and amazing shows in Marquette… you just aren’t invited.
Get over yourself. Are you a musician? Have you put yourself out there for the enjoyment of others? I doubt it. You sit here and tear apart others, but what have you contributed besides being a critical jerk?? The wonderfully talented musicians of Marquette deserve recognition for their talent, hard work, and enthusiasm.
How about the amazing shows put on by Eclettico, Kiddy/Wompus, Skunk Fur, Chantey Men,Rick O’Shea and the Deflectors, Everything Under the Sun, Wett Nurse, Russel’s Love Muscle, Travis Swanson and the Midnight Movers…
The list goes on. Next time do your homework before you write an ill-informed, offensive, “article”. Do us all a favor and stay at home, drinking by yourself.
Sam • Feb 4, 2014 at 10:09 am
In one way you are correct. There are very few “out of the area” bands coming to Marquette. There is a reason for that. No matter what you have heard, Up Front closed for a reason. You can’t keep bringing in outside acts and then have the crowd nurse one beer all night or sneak in their own. Venues bring in bands to make money, period. If the venue can’t cover their cost, how long do you think they will continue to spend the money. The pay that local venues can afford barely even cover the cost for a local band, not worth the trip for out of the area bands. If you want better bands coming to Marquette, then support the local scene so that the owners can see that it is important to the area and that they won’t lose money if they bring in some bigger names. Pack the Blue Lounge, Pack the Rover, Pack Flannies, buy some drinks, give them a reason to do what you are asking. The Verabar is trying to have live bands on Thursdays. Great Venue but it won’t last if they can’t make a profit. Get down there and show support. Right now, the best bands in Marquette are going elsewhere to play. They have to. It is the only way they can make any money. Kind of ironic that our local bands are the “out of the area” bands that Green Bay, Milwaukee, Madison, Duluth, and other cities are bringing in to their Venues. Maybe you just aren’t going to the right shows. Let me end with restating this. If you want a better music scene in Marquette, then create it. Get the word out and go support the local venues. Buy drinks, order food, give the owners a reason to take the risk on bigger names. It starts with the local bands and then grows. Remember, local bands were opening for the bigger talent when the Up Front was open. Now they are the ones playing elsewhere because the can’t get make a living in Marquette. The solution is very simple. Support what you have now and bigger acts will follow.
scott clever • Feb 4, 2014 at 8:20 am
i think that this sat night at the blue lounge you will get a glimpse of what we are working on as a project here in the up…being from the east coast i am trying to bring something new to the table. Of course with the help of Bobby hayes just feeding me good music on the daily. Come check us out…if you have the time. bless
[email protected] • Feb 4, 2014 at 8:18 am
DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO SKUNK FUR IS? THE GREATEST BAND IN FUCKING MICHIGAN IS RIGHT NEAR YOU.
Name* • Feb 4, 2014 at 8:11 am
wow this is sad and poorly thought out…
darryl • Feb 4, 2014 at 1:14 am
y’all must not know brad grear
Bar Guy • Feb 4, 2014 at 12:26 am
UpFront closed because they lost money for years. They never operated profitably outside their banquet business. Bands have virtually priced themselves out if smaller venues. Even if an act only wants $350 to play, a bar has to either get that back at the door (and nothing pissed off the bar hoppers or the regulars who don’t care about the band more than having to pay extra to have a 2 or 3 beers). If a bar is not charging cover for that $350 band, they’ll have to take in another $1000 than they would without them just to break even on the event. Bands tell you they’ll pack the place. But tell them you’ll charge $2 at the door and they get the door money and see if they’ll play. Saw a band last weekend that brought their crowd of water & pop drinkers with them who generate no revenue and take up space. A lot of people would love the days like the times when you could see good local bands at the Eastwood, Westwood & Shamrock and smaller acts at a few other places. But until it’s proven profitable, not many owners will take the risk.
PH • Feb 3, 2014 at 10:49 pm
When i started gigging in mqt with my old band 2005-2006 we had a great place for bands to play. It was 231 House of muses. Being the age of 13 at the time it was hard to get a gig. Bar gigs were not possible for us. The venue spoke for itself. Did not need to be a bar, because it had a different purpose. That was to provide the area with a scene that local bands could play, and the out of town bands were a constant. Being able to play with a band from Japan or other parts of the world was a great experience for us at a young age. I even saw a band there that got signed to Volcoms indie label and toured some dates with the raconteurs the following year. Everyone one was welcomed and the crowd was different on any given night minus the regulars of course. There needs to be a place like 231 again in mqt. A place that is all ages and all about the music and the arts. The current band does not even look for shows in mqt because what’s the point of looking for something that’s not there. I like marquette and all, but the scene has gone down hill year after year. I’m not going to go sit in someone’s basement to catch a show. Drunk kids, never knowing if the shows going to get shut down, and what have you. Its basically like watching your friends have band practice. Its just not the same. I hope something happens and i personally would be more than pleased to help with something like what was already here. Which was a good place to catch some live entertainment.
Christopher LaRose • Feb 3, 2014 at 10:05 pm
I disagree entirely.
Ian • Feb 3, 2014 at 10:05 pm
Seems like you have incomplete exposure to the music here. Youve failed to mention the best bands in Marquette.
Taylor Freeman • Feb 3, 2014 at 9:53 pm
I’m not going to tear you apart because you obviously are severely uninformed about the music scene that goes on outside of bars in Marquette. There are plenty of shows going on at certain houses, the Oasis Gallery, sometimes the Children’s Museum after it’s closed, and the Women’s Clubhouse used to frequently have shows before they decided to stop allowing them. All of these places include acts from out of town as well as great Marquette bands, that based on your references, it’s safe to say you don’t know about. As a matter of fact, I went to 2 different FANTASTIC shows on Friday night.
Based on your title I’d be offended by this.. but after reading I am not because you just don’t know what you’re talking about. But I think maybe you should figure that out before you publish something like this. Pay attention to the next flyer you see at a business downtown and maybe show up to the show. Then write what you think about it.
JRA • Feb 3, 2014 at 12:55 pm
The music scene in Marquette is indeed on life-support. You fail to mention Blackrocks which features a weekly open-mic night, house band night, and 2 or 3 additional nights featuring local and regional performers. All the Roadhouse owned by the Stucko’s has occasional live music.
I travel the Upper Peninsula a lot for work. I find that the live music reaper is hovering over a number of communities, not just Marquette. It is unfortunate.