Often you will hear that a band is better in live performance than on their studio-produced album, but it can be a hard thing to believe until you experience it for yourself. The Austin-based group What Made Milwaukee Famous is one of those bands. Having listened to their recently-released album You Can’t Fall off the Floor, I arrived at the glamorous, low-lit Hotel Cafe in Hollywood Saturday night already excited to hear their semi-serious, semi-rockin’ style of indie/folk/pop. The music they played was mostly culled from that album, but there was a presence, an energy and spirit to their live performance that surpassed the quality of their produced material, which, as I listen to it now, seems to lack the same dynamics.
On the stage their songs leapt to life, flaring with untrammeled passion, swaying vitality, and heavy percussion-fueled vigor. Sporting long, unkempt hair, frontman Michael Kingcaid got up on the stage looking like a worn-out, deadbeat stoner, but he came off it looking something like Jesus. It was as though when the music came to life, so did his charm. His sweat-glistened face glowed spiritually against the soft lighting and his weary eyes lifted with to shine with fervor; between songs a slow smirk wound across his face as he worked over the audience with his style of effortless humor. Eventually he roused most everyone to a drunken participation, and vulgar shouts flew through the air. His low, smothering voice boomed out across the speakers with a rich huskiness, and when he lifted it to higher notes he simultaneously inspirited the band around him to tap more ardently into their instruments.
Such an evening exerted a palpable cult influence; the more I listened the more I wanted to be a part of whatever it was this band was channeling. As the intoxicated, smile-smeared groupie-wannabe next to me astutely put it in a loud whisper, “They’re like Nirvana!” Well maybe not quite, but I could see what she was driving at. This is a band whose performance leaves a lasting impression.
