THE OFFICIAL BLOGSITE OF DJ SAVAGE SCOTT-HOST OF SAVAGE RADIO AS BROADCAST ON WVMO 98.7 FM-THE VOICE OF MONONA
Sunday, August 10, 2025
SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS JUNE/JULY 2025
Saturday, July 5, 2025
WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD: DISQ w/ GRAHAM HUNT and CELEBRITY SIGHTING ATWOOD MUSIC HALL MADISON, WI JUNE 27, 2025
DISQ
with GRAHAM HUNT
and CELEBRITY SIGHTING
ATWOOD MUSIC HALL
MADISON, WI
JUNE 27, 2025
It's beautiful.
It felt like being in a nightclub housed somewhere in a foreign city. But it was right here...in Madison, WI...on the East side of the city.
On Friday, June 27th, I took my first trip to the new concert venue, the Atwood Music Hall, which opened earlier in the month. The arrival of this venue at this specific location as well as at this specific time is notable for the richness contained in the history of the building itself.
Originally built in 1931 as the Madison Gospel Tabernacle, and designed with what is known as a Zolllinger roof (named after German architect Friedreich Zollinger, and whose design is an example of a Lamella structure-a vaulted roof made up of overlapping structural members across a curved surface creating diamond patterns), the space has also served the area over the years as an alternative school known as The Freedom House as well as Operation Fresh Start, a non-profit focused on youth education and job training. In 2023, the space was purchased by Toffer Christensen and Jake DeHaven, owners of the local event venue The Bur Oak, with hopes to create a larger independently owned venue in a city where many of our concert spaces have been overtaken by the Live Nation corporation.
What brought me to the venue this evening was to see my friends in action once again. The Madison based quintet Disq, featuring Raina Bock (bass, guitar, vocals), Shannon Connor (guitar, vocals) Isaac De Broux-Slone (guitar, vocals), Stu Manley (drums) and Logan Severson (guitar, bass, vocals) has been fairly quiet as a unit as of late with five years since their excellent debut album "Collector" (released March 6, 2020) and nearly three years since their sensation sophomore album "Desperately Imagining Someplace Quiet" (released October 7, 2022). This evening would find the band headlining and showcasing new material during a complete local artists night also featuring Madison music community veteran Graham Hunt-himself utilizing the evening as an album release event celebrating his latest project "Timeless World Forever" (released June 13, 2025)-and newcomers, the blazing punk rock quintet Celebrity Sighting as led by Tyler Fassnacht and Danielle Tucci.
For those of you who have frequented this site over the years, you would know that I have found myself fully amazed with the collective of musicians that populate this deeply rich music community over the past decade or so, befriending several along the way, including the members of Disq and their contemporaries in the now Chicago based, Slow Pulp. For me, Disq and Slow Pulp have existed as two sides of a coin, both bands with distinctive identities and varied musical aesthetics, yet having essentially grown up together as friends and collaborators, and also gaining a certain public momentum at the same times, they are linked together in my mind.
The arrival and timing of Covid-19 pandemic could not have been worse for Disq as "Collector," arrived just before the social distancing lockdown immediately stalling their momentum whereas Slow Pulp had evaded that plight by having had built up their presence just before the pandemic. I am passionately rooting equally for both bands and have been over the moon to observe the larger scaled media and public attention of Slow Pulp's.
When I last saw them perform in Madison at the Majestic Theater, it was a wonderment to observe how far they had travelled just due to who was in the audience for it was no longer, family, friends and locals. This time, I was in a roomful of legitimate fans, people who had otherwise no connection at all to the band aside from their songs and albums. As I stood at the lip of the stage watching Slow Pulp perform, I was acutely aware of the audience being riveted by the natural stage presence of lead singer/guitarist Emily Massey, reciting lyrics back to her earnestly, while to my immediate right, there was a young woman holding a handmade sign with hands literally shaking which read, "I Love Slow Pulp." or Slow Pulp, it was happening for them and I could not have been prouder, for I just knew they had a musical vision that could translate outwardly. And moreso, it made me happy to see good things happen to genuinely good people.
With Disq, they are a bit of a moving target as they are more difficult to classify as their vast influences are made up and filtered through a team of five multi-instrumentalist and four songwriters/singers. To me, that makes Disq so tremendously exciting as a band existing during a time when so much is not only being homogenized but the releasing of new music can feel overwhelming due to the sheer amount. It is difficult to keep up with all of the major and independent releases, either through labels or via self releasing strategies. Disq is a band that if I had a magic wand, I would wave it vigorously for them, allowing them to gain a greater foothold so that they can feel freer to create in the ways that are most beneficial to them and also, in ways where they could survive and thrive upon their art.
And furthermore, they are a formidable live attraction who, I believe, could go toe to toe with anyone. Within the multiple times I have seen them perform over the years, their level of intensity has never wavered, there has never been a lackluster show, there has never been a phoned in moment. Disq is a band that plays for keeps and like Slow Pulp, they are genuinely good people for whom good things should happen.
Yet, something is happening here...
As I waited outside the venue for the doors to open, and after greeting the band members on the street, I found myself in conversation with the first person in line, a young man I mistakenly thought was one of the venue's staff members stationed outside. Just as with the fans I saw around Slow Pulp, this person was a Disq Superfan, one who gushingly admitted to me that "Collector" was his "Spring album" in 2020 upon discovering it, but soon, it became his "Summer, Fall and Winter album of 2020." Even further, he had driven from Detroit just for this evening's show, proclaiming that this was the band he would travel this distance for as he sees them as "the Pixies of my generation," a group that will undoubtedly strike gold and new fans will hit themselves for not seeing them sooner when they were on the rise.
I sincerely hope so. And hearing his feelings validated mine. That everything I was hearing was also what he was hearing...and one would imagine, even more fans.
Much like the now defunct Smart Studios, located upon East Washington venue, the Atwood Music Hall on the outside does not announce itself as being anything resembling a nightclub. In fact, as a friend who lives mere blocks from the venue announced to me after the show, "I walk past this building all of the time!! I had no idea that this was here!" Indeed, who would know as currently there is no signage and honestly, if they decided to never house any signage, I certainly wouldn't mind. t almost makes it feel like a neighborhood exclusive!
Upon entering, the vibe was immediate and superbly inviting as I took in an awe filled look at the largely empty space with the aforementioned Zollinger roof, which was filled with the cavernous and BASS HEAVY sounds from one of the night's two DJs, effectively creating an atmosphere which felt decidedly urban, or cosmopolitan. I took my time looking around, going upstairs to the balcony and catching what I am feeling would be a comfortable view should I not wish to stand in the crowd on the main floor-except I knew, that for tonight, I would be right up front for Disq!
Shortly after 8 pm, Celebrity Sighting hit the stage and launched into a whirlwind of a set that only got better and better with each song. Launched with superb punk rock energy that inspired vigorously constant motion, I was fully taken by their force, and the clear enjoyment they exuded, which made me think of a particularly aggressive B-52s fueled by an accelerated Ramones pacing.
A little after 9 pm, it was time for Graham Hunt, who did indeed perform the entirety of his new album, augmented by Isaac De Broux-Slone, Stu Manley and Logan Severson of Disq (all of whom--and Shannon Connor--contributed to Hunt's album in instrumental, mixing and production duties) as his backing band along with keyboardist Emili Earhart, whom I have never met but have seen many times performing over the years.
Sunday, June 29, 2025
SYNESTHESIA SINGLES: DWEEZIL ZAPPA "ROX(POSTROPHY)" TOUR 2025: BARRYMORE THEATER MAY 1, 2025
DWEEZIL ZAPPA
RETURN OF THE SON OF...
ROX(POSTROPHY): CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF APOSTROPHE (') AND ROXY & ELSEWHERE
LIVE
BARRYMORE THEATER
MADISON, WI
MAY 1, 2025
MUSICIANS:
Dweezil Zappa: guitar, vocals
with
Ryan Brown: drums, percussion, vocals
Scheilia Gonzales: saxophone, keyboards, duck calls, vocals
Kurt Morgan: bass, vocals
Zach Tabori: drums, percussion, keyboards, guitar, vocals
Bobby Victor: keyboards, vocals
Over the years, as I have amassed the good fortune to witness Dweezil Zappa and his band of uniformly formidable musicians--this posting representing my fourth time--I wish to passionately implore to all of you reading that should Zappa and--again--his band of uniformly formidable musicians make a tour stop near you...purchase a ticket and...GO!!!!
Certainly familiarity with the incomparable, indescribable music of Frank Zappa will intensify your overall enjoyment with these performances by Zappa's son Dweezil but I would argue that it is not any sense of a pre-requisite. In fact, if Frank Zappa ever self described himself as anything, it was never as "rock star," or "satirist" or "provocateur," even though he existed as all of those entities and more.
Frank Zappa always thought of himself first and foremost as a Composer. With that in mind, should you attend a Dweezil Zappa concert, I suggest that you place yourself within the mindset of going to a symphonic performance of Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler and the like yet you are witnessing the son painstakingly executing his Father's dizzyingly impossible music with then utmost reverence, passion, a healthy dose of irreverent humor and an even heftier dosage of stupendous guitar heroics all of which serves as tribute to a man's body of work as well as to a figure who had two of the best hands to ever hold a guitar.
Trust me, and even after four times around, my jaw was routinely left upon the theater floor in awe for I really believe that Dweezil Zappa must be seen to be believed!
Celebrating the 50th anniversaries of both Frank Zappa's "Apostrophe (')" (released March 22, 1974) and the double live album "Roxy & Elsewhere" (released September 10, 1974), Dweezil Zappa and his bandmates, again dressed in the "Roxy" attire of matching jet black t-shirts and blue jeans, launched into material from both albums, including the scorching "Trouble Every Day," the race relation laments of "Uncle Remus," the anti television diatribe "I'm The Slime," the spiritual skepticism of "Cosmik Debris," and a personal favorite, the gloriously, deliriously gymnastic "Echidna's Arf (Of You)" and "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?".
All of those pieces plus additional selections, including titanic show opener, "Filthy Habits," and the interstellar "Inca Roads," immediately placed the spotlight upon Dweezil Zappa'a superlative guitar heroics. But, as any great band realizes, all of the pieces have to fit perfectly for the entire escape to transcend. Jus having Dweezil Zappa solo into the night would not be interesting in and of itself. I was thrilled to see band veterans drummer Ryan Brown, bassist Kurt Morgan and the astonishing saxophonist/keyboardist Scheilia Gonzales all still within the fold but for me, the MVP of the night was new band member Zach Tabori who raced between instruments with incredible alacrity, while also handling lead vocals (!!!), most stupendously on the 11 minute plus, "Punky's Whips," a tale about a young man's homo erotic crush via a photo on a rock star's poster, which Dweezil Zappa expressed with bewilderment that fans over the years have proclaimed to be the song that served as gateway to Frank Zappa's oeuvre.
Indeed, a sardonic sense of humor is required for a show such as this one. But instead of leaning into the sometimes relentless scatological elements, Dweezil Zappa and his band leaned heavily into the overall silliness, the kind of which that showcases how every solitary sound, be it silence, guffaws, guttural utterances, and snatches of dialogue are as integral to the music as the cavalcade of notes, harmonics, melodies and polyrhythms. There was ample space for a Drake/T Pain auto tune parody before "Zomby Woof." The music of Adele and Lionel Richie was performed with hysterical duck calls. And of course, Frank Zappa's idiosyncratic lyrics to sing along with.
Yet, if there was anything that surprised me about this go around with Dweezil Zappa was the sincerity and warmth that was injected into this night. While Dweezil Zappa has never emitted an aura that was standoffish, or even as seemingly as impenetrable as his Father's persona, he has typically been somewhat reticent, commanding the stage with a relaxed demeanor and bemused grin displaying a presence that makes this impossible music seem effortless. However, this time, he exuded a gregarious charm, spinning stories from his upbringing including a time when as a 12 year old, he was surprised to find none other than Edward Van Halen in his house for a visit, a story leading the band to beautifully perform the Van Halen deep cut "Push Comes To Shove."
Best of all was regarding Dweezil Zappa proudly wielding his Father's guitar, the very own on which he him self performed and composed many of the selections heard, including pieces based upon some of the earliest performances by Frank Zappa but featuring different arrangements melodies and lyrics. The coup de grace was definitely "The Lost Zappa Song," composed during the period of "The Great Wazoo" (released November 27, 1972) but never recorded. To see this honest display of heart was undeniably unexpected but extremely welcome.
To utilize a phrase from one of Frank Zappa's own album titles, to regard Dweezil Zappa and his musicians is to experience the best band you never heard in your life. Trust me, give it a chance as once you hear them, you may only wish to return and see them again!
I know I'm ready!
Saturday, May 31, 2025
SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS APRIL/MAY 2025
"REMEMBERING PRINCE 9 YEARS LATER..."
APRIL 16, 2025
1. "Planet Earth" performed by Prince
2. "Sexuality" performed by Prince
3. "Four" performed by Madhouse
4. "Waterfall" performed by Wendy & Lisa
5. "River Run Dry" performed by The Family
6. "The One" performed by The New Power Generation
7. "I Don't Wanna Leave You" performed by The Time
8. "Koo Koo" performed by Sheila E.
9. "Push" performed by Prince and the New Power Generation
10."One Day We Will All B Free" performed by Prince
Saturday, March 29, 2025
SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2025