Day One At Milwaukee

The Milwaukee Irish Fest opened last night for their usual Thursday preview night. Only 4 of their 16 stages (told you it was quaint) were filled, but there was an impressive crowd on hand. Young Tom Regan made a big splash and represented KC well with the Wisconsin debut of his Shamrocker game. We'll be back at it, Tommy and I, beginning at 4:00 this afternoon.

After we closed our little corner of the festival for the night we went and caught half of the show by the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, who of course will be joining us in Kansas City in two weeks. Two thoughts came to mind watching them. One, I hope to hell our stages are big enough to hold these guys. And two, you're going to love this show. They had the crowd jumping, screaming and dancing to what they described from the stage as "bag rock." Great stuff. Watching the show with us on a cool night with zero humidity (glorious after the Kansas City summer we've had), some friends from fests past and future, Eamonn de Barra of Slide and Steve Twigger, Pat Murphy and Jessie Burns of Gaelic Storm along with Ed Ward and Joe King, festival bigwigs and all around good guys.

I also caught just a few minutes of RHCP's fellow KC Irish Festers Girsa as they opened the festival. They were fantastic, skilled musicians with a great, easy stage presence. These girls have a very bright future ahead of them and you'll be able to say you've been a fan from way back after you see them in Cowtown in two weeks.

More today. Though I'll be sticking pretty close to Tommy's tent, I hope to get out and see some more music tonight. For today, remember: The Red Hot Chilli Pipers are on the Boulevard Stage Friday night at 9:00, again Saturday at 4:30 and Sunday on the Terrace Stage at 7:30 PM. Catch Girsa on the Terrace Stage Saturday at 1:30 and again Sunday at 11:00 AM.