Tonight’s Midwest Express fest promises plenty of great bands, barbecue

Who says you need 700 bands and 10 stages to put on a local music festival? If you’re Joseph Peterson, the brains behind tonight’s 1st Annual Midwest Express fest, a few local ringers and some out-of-town surprises are all you need. Oh, and plenty of barbecue.

“Midwest Express is something I’ve wanted to do for a while,” Peterson tells The A.V. Club. “I wanted to showcase some other kinds of music happening around the country that rarely get noticed in Milwaukee. We’re going to have a raffle, a BBQ, and some other surprises that usually don’t happen at your average Milwaukee show.”

The newly revitalized Quarters Rock ’N Roll Palace will play host to the first-time fest. Milwaukee’s Trusty Knife, Holy Shit!, and a slightly reconfigured Busybodies will join Texas’ Fungi Girls, Missouri’s Warhammer 48K, and California’s Jealousy.

Of the out-of-towners, Fungi Girls are definitely worth a look. With a full-length album entitled Seafaring Pyramids under their belts, the young fuzz-poppers cop a Jesus And Mary Chain vibe without sounding too nostalgic or retro:

According to Peterson, the local bands were chosen because each had an “audience that doesn’t really overlap, which then brings all different folks together to hear music they may not have heard already.” The Trusty Knife is no stranger to bringing in disparate audiences, as evidenced by this somewhat choppy footage from a somewhat ill-advised show at 7 Mile Fair:

In order to accommodate the stuffed lineup, the festivities will be begin at 8 p.m. (The barbecue is set for 6 p.m.) And for those show-goers who like to show up for only one band, the Midwest Express will be throwing a wrench in your declasse plans: The band order won’t be determined until the night of the show. “Ideally, people will come at the start of the event and stay until the end,” says Peterson. “We’ll see if it works.”