08.18.2024 | Trampled By Turtles & The Avett Brothers
Alpine Valley Music Theater | East Troy, WI
After the debacle that was Noah Kahan back in July I was looking forward to an uneventful, enjoyable concert. Beautiful sunny day - check, close parking spot - check, reserved seat - check. All looked good.
The first few notes of “Victory” acted as a bolt of energy waking the smaller crowd, for Alpine Valley at least. As a veteran Trampled By Turtles fan, I appreciated the continued throwback with Duluth’s “Darkness and The Light” following. ‘Codeine’ was the perfect mid-set pick, another classic that would for sure result in some new TBT fans that night - until it wasn’t... The audio spontaneously cut out, leaving the chorus being carried by the crowd. Never skipping a beat, Avett Brothers’ crew brought two mics out to allow one of the few bands that could carry on and still sound incredible given the circumstances.
So as to keep everyone involved, they rolled right into some covers from The Band and Bob Dylan. Just as they tried to roll into fan-favorite “Whiskey” things took another turn… the background visuals failed. “Did it just get worse?” frontman Dave Simonett asked the crowd. It didn’t matter, and as cellist Eamonn McLain snuck down to the pit to lead the crowd with two High-Noons in hand in lieu of the title spirit.
After leaving the stage after just 10 songs, upsetting this fan a bit, some behind the screens scrambling righted all issues. Many thanks to the Avett Brothers for letting them come back out to finish out with some hits among them “Alone”, “Midnight on the Interstate”, and “Wait So Long”.
Despite all the technical difficulties it may be one of the more fun Trampled By Turtles shows I’ve seen. The ability to roll with all the punches and have fun throughout just makes me look forward to the next time they come back to Milwaukee, which as a Midwest band is quite often. Lucky for us!
