Thirty-six years after making its Milwaukee debut – a whirlwind weekend of gigs, radio and record store appearances and busking sessions – Glasgow's Del Amitri is headed back to Milwaukee.
The Scottish quintet, whose latest record, "Fatal Mistakes," was their first in nearly 20 years, have been touring in the U.K. this autumn and the first U.S. gigs in many years have been announced.
One of them is here in Milwaukee at Shank Hall, 1434 N. Farwell Ave., on Saturday, April 9.
The 8 p.m. show has sold out, but a second show has been added on the same day. Tickets for the 3 p.m. show are $35 and on sale now at Ticketweb.com.
“Ah, the lure of the Shank Hall walls," says frontman Justin Currie. "Milwaukee was always our chill gig after the XRT-driven pressure of theater shows in Chicago – inevitably – the night before."
"We have had great fondness for Milwaukee ever since stopping off there on our desperado, beg, steal and borrow '86 U.S. tour. It always felt a bit like Glasgow to us. Apart from the massive lake, that is. We can’t wait to be back in the bosom of its warm embrace.”
Del Amitri made its Brew City debut in August 1986 as part of a self-booked tour across America in a too-small van.
While here, the group played at Cafe Voltaire and at The Underground (the same night The Smiths played at the Marcus Center).
They also busked outside Irish Fest and at the old Beans and Barley building, plus did some radio appearances on WMSE and performed in-store at Atomic Records.
The band has returned a number of times for gigs at Shank and at Summerfest.
Because I know Dels fans are willing to travel, here is the full tour itinerary:
3/26 – The Canyon Club – Agora Hils, CA
3/27 – The Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ
3/29 – The Roxy Theatre – West Hollywood, CA
3/30 – Cornerstone – Berkeley, CA
4/1 – The Sunset – Seattle, WA
4/2 – Imperial – Vancouver, BC
4/3 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
4/5 – The State Room – Salt Lake City, UT
4/6 – Gothic Theatre – Englewood, CO
4/7 – The Steifel Theatre for the Perf. Arts – Salina, KS
4/9 – Shank Hall – Milwaukee, WI
4/10 – Fitzgerald Theatre – St. Paul, MN
4/11 – Vic Theatre – Chicago, IL
4/13 – Horseshoe Tavern – Toronto, ON
4/14 – World Café Live – Philadelphia, PA
4/15 – Crystal Ballroom – Somerville, MA
4/16 – The Egg – Swyer Theatre – Albany, NY
4/18 – (Le) Poisson Rouge – New York, NY
4/19 – The Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
4/20 – The ArtsCenter – Carrboro, NC
4/21 – Variety Playhouse – Atlanta, GA
4/23 – Jergels – Warrendale, PA
4/24 – Music Box Supper Club – Cleveland, OH
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
