Stacey Johnson, from The Examiner, has written a most excellent review of our show on Oct 11 at the Cactus Club with Traindodge, Roma 79 and Sleepcomesdown.
Read it here…

Or keep reading below…

Small Club Brings Big City Sound

November 4, 5:12 PM Milwaukee Indie Music Examiner Stacey Johnson

The Cactus Club may be one of the smallest venues in the Milwaukee music scene, but they never fail to host a great show with some huge sound. Oct. 11th was another hit with a progressive rock line up of Sleepcomesdown, Roma 79, Traindodge and Disguised as Birds. Each of the bands put on a stellar performance with unique sounds and undeniable presence.

Sleepcomesdown was the opening act of the night, made up of Tim Feret, Steve Ruppa, Danny Strash, Kristofer Taylor and Dylan Zocchi. The band is from Milwaukee and performed a set that seemed to turn a chaotic compilation of chords, riffs and steel into one seamless sound and presentation. Their album Secret Handshake is a great testament to what you will get in performance value.

The second performance of the night came in the form of a rousing set by Roma 79 with amazing lead vocals by Jeremy Patfield. This San Francisco-based act also includes Andrew Skikne, Aaron Bonsall and Rob Smith. Each song in their set seemed better than the last, with a crowd favorite of “Heads Down” from their album The Great Dying. Hopefully they will return to Milwaukee for another performance in the near future.

Traindodge followed Roma 79, and included two of Roma 79’s band members- Jeremy Patfield- who performed in place of Chris Allen who couldn’t make the show. He was joined by Jason Smith on vocals/guitar and Rob Smith on drums who is also a member of Roma 79. The sound produced was entirely unique and equally in depth. The overall sound is one that is a complex blend, but works well rhythmically. One of Traindodge’s not to miss tracks is “Maze” from their album Wolves.

Disguised as Birds rounded out the night with an incredible sound and energetic performance led by Chris Chuzles on vocals and Kris Endicott on vocals/guitar, Tony Ciske on bass guitar and Kevin DeMars on drums. This Milwaukee –based group’s sound is aggressive while lyrically introspective; a truly difficult musical feat to master. Each of their tracks are completely encompassing without being intrusive. A crowd-pleasing track to check out is “Hayabusa’s Lament” from their latest EP New Demons.

Make sure to check out future Cactus Club shows and all of the bands’ future line-ups on their web sites:

http://www.cactusclubmilwaukee.com/
http://www.myspace.com/sleepcomesdown
http://www.roma79.com/news.php
http://d566572.u42.gravityfarm.com/home.asp
http://www.disguisedasbirds.com/