Madisons Turn it Out

By Martin Ramirez
Live Blogger

Earlier, I thought Shaker Hymns were the most successful in bringing the crowd today. However, the Madisons came and changed all of that. As soon as the lead vocalist, Dominic Solis, cracked a joke, he had the crowd at his mercy.

After being at the Buzz Mill for four hours, fighting off bugs left and right, I was happy to hear Solis call out the problem when he cussed out a wasp that came near him on stage. Solis continued to make us laugh when he said, “This set is gonna be 75 percent shit-talking, 25 percent music and 10 percent rock and roll.”

The music they played was a weird, but great mixture of folk, rock-and-roll and country. The one thing that stood out was the violin being played by Heidi Garcia. I spoke to Garcia before they began to play. She said she’d joined the band three years ago, but that they had formed seven years ago. Even though she had joined the band later on, Garcia played like she had known the group since birth.

Meanwhile, Solis encouraged the crowd to dance, saying, “It ain’t against the law.” Within minutes, people began to dance along for the first time today at the Buzz Mill. Everyone was having fun, with couples swinging left and right in front of the stage. Luckily, there was no one twerking, but I’m sure some people wanted to.

After the band finished their last song, the crowd and I began to shout for an encore, which they happily granted.  

Brandon Henderson, a KTSW alum, was present to hear the Madisons. Henderson previously hosted the Americano show for KTSW and said the Madisons were one of the last live bands he had in the studio. “I love the Madisons, I’ve known them for the past five years,” Henderson said. “Funnest band to see live. Great dudes. One of my favorites of all times.” Even though the Madisons played one extra song, it was easy to tell no one in the crowd would have minded if they had stayed longer.

Featured image by Joey Chapman.