Mike Huberty’s dad’s underwear!
As Dino so accurately put it, the Sunspot juggernaut did hit Wausau on Saturday night at Scott Street, and I was lucky enough to be there and witness things I have never seen before (and some I hope I never see again).
Let me begin by saying, I have never been to the Scott Street Pub in my life so this was going to be a new experience for me regardless. In fact, since I moved back to Wausau, I haven’t really done much in the way of nightlife. Having 2 young children will put a tremendous damper on your social life. In fact, I was almost dreading the show, as it was beginning at a time when most nights, I would be soundly sleeping. But, I persevered, and made my way downtown.
As I walked in the first thing I noticed was the cross-section of people in the bar. From a pointy Mohawk to a mom and dad watching their son play in a band, to people I work with everyday, you couldn’t classify this group in any holistic way and truly do it justice.
The bar is an awesome place to watch a band. If you’ve never experienced that, please do yourself a favor. It’s an intimate venue and the acoustics are great (although ear shatteringly loud).
As I settled by the bar, the opening band, Jeff Gay and the Straights (I think) began to play. They had clearly already been in the spirit of the evening and 2 of their members had already decided to beat the summer heat by playing in their boxer shorts. I actually enjoyed their set, even though it’s not usually what I listen to. It was a lot of punk and ska type music, and far too much rambling between songs, but in the end, I really enjoyed it. It’s cool to watch people so into their music. That transfers to the crowd, and all has a good time.
Then it was time for the headliner. I was looking forward to seeing Sunspot again. They played a benefit concert I helped put together last year and Dino introduced me to them. They were all cool people and great to work with. Plus, I really dig their music.
Sunspot proceeded to play until almost 2 a.m. and from “Prozac Girl” to “Scott Bakula” they played all the songs I was hoping to hear and even unveiled a couple of new tunes. The bar’s small, but spirited crowd enjoyed every minute and was treated to one hell of a show!
By the end of the evening, there was no holding back. There were stage divers, sing-alongs and something that resembled an old-school burlesque show. That’s about all I can say though, because I seem to remember reading in City Pages “What happens at Scott Street stays at Scott Street.”
I’ll tell you this, though…it made for one great memory, and more importantly, I think I’ll do it again sometime.
This shows a bit of the scale of the project, notice the workers in the foreground.
