An Atomic Valentine
A tribute concert for Atomic Records is coming up on Valentine's Day
Decider has already shed manymany tears over the closing of Atomic Records, which will happen some time next month once owner Rich Menning sells off his stock of collective vinyl, discount-priced CDs, and memorabilia. But, like Bob Dylan once said of the murdered Hattie Carroll, or Tom Hanks said of baseball, now’s not the time for your tears. At least that’s the attitude that a bunch of Milwaukee bands past and present are taking Saturday for the special Atomic Valentine concert at Miramar Theatre.
The bill offers a handy refresher course in Milwaukee punk and indie rock from the past 25 years: Liquid PinkBoy Dirt CarSometime Sweet SusanThe Lovelies, Cherry Cake, The Etiquette, The Blowtorch, The Mighty Deerlick, and Mark Waldoch And His Good Grief. Because of all the reunions taking place just for this show—including Sometime Sweet Susan, who Decider begged to reform two years ago—and the inevitable “end of an era” vibe that accompanies Atomic’s closing, the show feels like Milwaukee’s Last Waltz. Oh, here come the tears again!
Since we're already blubbery, we thought we'd share this cool clip we found on YouTube of Smashing Pumpkins performing a pretty acoustic version of "Luna" at Atomic back in 1991. Let's hope stuff like this isn't a thing of the past.
