Travis Larson Band powers through thunder storms to add its own instrumental thunder to Summerfest 2008.

Caught between the set times of three different bands at opposite ends of the Summerfest grounds made for an exercising entertainingly exciting day. After a morning at work the plan was to head to the park and ride and catch a freeway flyer to summerfest. The day was Saturday June 28^th and the main mission was to meet and see the Travis Larson Band live. However there were obstacles to overcome and that would be the sets of Daryl Stuermer and Bobby Friss. Logistics were a nightmare but were overcome with some quick foot work.

The day started off sunny and warm and seemed at the time to the perfect day to be at summerfest. I headed over to where I thought the Travis Larson Band might be and was surprised to find this big truck with the band members milling around it. I spotted Travis right away and introduced myself to him. He was so gracious and gave me a personal tour of the Digi truck and while engaging in conversation; it was quite evident that the storm the day before had created an experience that won’t soon be forgotten. They got caught by a quick moving storm that had them not quite knowing what to do and ended up getting all their equipment wet. As it turns out this was probably a good thing because now they were battle test and ready to go should it happen again. Travis said that everything had dried out and that they were going to play two sets, one at 5pm and the other at 7:30pm. That’s when the trouble started because Daryl Stuermer was playing at 5:30pm and Bobby Friss at 5:30pm but with the longer set time. So I decided to watch TLB for fifteen minutes of their 5pm set and run over to see Daryl at 5:30 and back to Bobby at 7pm while catching a beer with my neighbors before returning to see the TLB’s full 7:30pm set. Travis talked about instrumental music and how he felt that fans of instrumental music were very loyal and that he seemed OK with the way things were going for the TLB. At about this time Travis exited to do something and Jennifer the bassist came up and introduced herself. We talked about the Rush concert as she is a huge fan of Geddy Lee. In her opinion the show was totally awesome with the band playing allot of material off their latest release called “Snakes and Arrows”. The storm the day before along with the sounds and smells of Summerfest were also discussed. At this time drummer Dale Moon walked up to me and introduced himself. We discussed just about everything possible including the music and bands that he’s been associated with past and present. It seems that he just digs instrumental guitar music with its freeform format leaving the band to create its own sound and identity. Boy, what and awesome experience to finally meet a band that I play on my internet radio station. I just want to thank all the band members for their time and for making me feel so welcome. Instrumental music lives on. Oh! Let’s not forget that during the afternoon we were once again visited by a nasty thunder storm. Fortunately after about a forty-five minute deluge the sun came back out and made for an enjoyable evening.

Fast forward to five o’clock and the Travis Larson’s Band’s first set of the day. They played thirty minute sets while another stage was sound checking so allot of material couldn’t be covered at one time. This set at least the first fifteen minutes featured music from their latest released called “Rate of Change”. They thundered through Sticks and Stones, Up in Arms and Room to Breathe. It became very apparent early on that they enjoy playing in a live setting as well as a challenging environment. It was fun to watch Travis and Jennifer doing their exchanges while Dale kept everything in balance.

The second set at seven thirty was just flat out incredible. They opened with Frantic Manic off their “Suspension” CD. The line that Travis plays to open that song is such an attention getter. In my opinion this might just be the best opening song they could have selected. He was reeling in new fans from around the stage and beyond. I audience was building quickly and the energy was exploding through the air. Once the song had concluded the fans began chanting “MORE” “MORE”.

It felt so good to be part of such a positive experience as far instrumental music is concerned. This was a sound that the people of Milwaukee have never heard until now. The next tune Full Suspension thundered through the crowd as this trio was tightly powerful in pure rock fashion. It was also fun to see the people take notice in Jennifer as I’m sure that most people haven’t experienced a female bassist who by the way is an incredibly fabulous player. By now I’m really into the music and can’t remember any more of the titles but can only say that at the end of this set the fans wanted more then the time would allow. With a bunch of new fans made and CD’s sold the night had become a total success. Many thanks to Travis, Jennifer and Dale for bringing their show to Milwaukee.