Leaving Brew City for Badgers Hockey Classic in Madison

If you’re looking to get out of Milwaukee for the weekend for a little road trip, I have just the event for you – the Wisconsin Badger Hockey Classic in Madison! The hockey games will be on Saturday and this will be an all day event, with the women’s team playing Bemidji State at 2 PM and the men’s team playing Michigan at 5 PM. The event will take place inside of the Badger’s famed football stadium, Camp Randall. A temporary ice rink has been constructed for this special event and on Friday evening, there will even be a public skate available for fans. Hopefully we will get some warmer weather to enjoy this great outdoor event!

Even if you can’t make it out to Madison for the games, you are in luck – both the men’s and women’s games will be aired on the Big Ten network. You can also check out the Badgers online auction for 53 authentic game-issued jerseys that will be worn by the players during the games.

Marquette V. Depaul - February 3

The Marquette Golden Eagles will be playing their next home game on February 3 against the DePaul Blue Demons. Marquette holds a 12-8 record so far, proving they can keep up with the rest of the teams in the Big East Conference. The Golden Eagles were victorious in their most recent game against Rutgers and we hope to see another win while they are away playing a game at UConn on January 30. DePaul, on the other hand, currently are holding an 8-12 record. When DePaul played Marquette on January 20, they were victorious in an exciting game with the final score 51-50. Hopefully we will see another interesting game Wednesday night at the Bradley Center.

My Favorite Venue in Milwaukee - The Miramar!

Driving east on Locust St. over the bridge and coming into the east side, you wouldn’t imagine that one of Milwaukee’s best kept secrets is right there, hiding in plain view. You see Riverside High, some houses, Cousins Subs and if you look a little to the south when you hit Oakland, you see the Miramar Theater – my sanctuary. The Miramar Theater has been the venue of choice for me so far living on the east side and attending UWM. Its convenient location, inexpensive shows and consistently interesting lineup have made the Miramar a favorite of many UWM and east side residents. The intimate venue has great acoustics that make any artist sound great regardless of genre. There are rows of theater style seating around the hard-wood floored dance floor in the center. The stage is low and there is no barrier between the band and the fans and I have even danced on the stage at couple of the shows I’ve seen there.

One of the great bands I’ve seen at the Miramar is EOTO. They are an electronic jam band that improvises throughout their entire live show, making every concert a unique and always psychedelic experience. They combine the styles of break beat, house and drum n bass to create a groovy and definitely dance-worthy set-list. The energy at their shows is incredible and the mix of live drums and guitars with the hand percussion and live mixing make for an unforgettable and funky performance.

Another great show that I saw at the Miramar was Pretty Lights which is the brain child of Derek Vincent Smith. He puts on a DJ set and his shows comprise of live drums and digital sampling from other previously recorded songs and creating a new sound that blends many genres including hip hop and old-school funk and soul samples to put on a hard hitting dance party performance. This was by far one of the biggest shows I have ever been to at the Miramar and the place was packed to capacity full of sweaty kids getting their grind on. The lights were of course, very pretty and the DJ set came across extremely well in the tiny theater.

David Gray Riverside Theater Milwaukee Show | Nora Jones The Fall

Milwaukee’s Riverside Theater has two big name performances scheduled in March. Norah Jones will perform on the 19th. Jones recently released her fourth album, “The Fall” and will head out on a 36 city tour that will feature songs from this album, released November 17th. David Gray will perform in Milwaukee on the 20th. Gray’s tour comes on the heels of his eighth studio album, “Draw the Line” which features eleven new songs including his hit single, “Fugitive.”

John Mayer Bradley Center Show | Battle Studies Review

Despite his heavy rotation in the tabloids and his undeniably aloof and sometimes abrasive attitude when interacting with interviewers, John Mayer is truly a musician at heart. The John Mayer Bradley Center show is March 1, 2010. In his fourth studio release Battle Studies, he takes a big step outside of his stylistic boundaries set by previous albums and hit singles to write an album with a fresher focus. Battle Studies appears to be Mayer’s musical expansion and exploration as he starts to investigate the moody domain of acts such as Coldplay and Keane while still paying homage to classic guitarists including Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn and George Harrison.

This new album is a great showcasing of Mayer’s chops and his real guitar wizardry. The opening track “Heartbreak Warfare” foreshadows the theme of the album, discussing the struggles of love lost. On the track "Half of My Heart," with Taylor Swift, Mayer plays the dude who kisses, pun intended, half-heartedly with one eye open, scanning for his next acquisition. The first single “Who Says” is an ode to dope-smoking escapism with a folk-pop groove.

After listening to the entire album, it’s easy to find the parallels between Battle Studies and third studio release Continuum but despite the few similarities, they are two very separate bodies of work. While Continuum was chock full of classic Mayer hits and had a more intense and progressive feel, Battle Studies feels like each track is almost floating in a new plane and atmosphere of John Mayer. Battle Studies is an exciting and strong album with a great new collection of sounds and styles for Mayer fans, including a few singles that will certainly make way to the radio waves.

Green Bay Packers Playoffs 2010 Milwaukee Package

Did you know that there are two season ticket packages for the Green Bay Packers? One is the "Green Package," and one is the "Gold Package." The Gold package is for Milwaukee season ticket holders. The Green Bay Packers 2010 playoffs are a lock. We don't know who they play just yet.

The Packers make efforts to include the Milwaukee season ticket holders in the Green Bay Packers Playoff run. Not every season ticket holder will buy tickets for home playoff games, because the only way the Packers will play at Lambeau would be if they hosted the NFC championship. For now, we will just hope that our friends to the north win their wild card game.

Milwaukee Bucks Playoff Tickets on my Wish List | Bradley Center map

Dear Santa: For the holiday season, I want Milwaukee Bucks playoff tickets. I know that the Bucks season just started two months ago. I want to know ahead of time that my Bucks will win a playoff spot. Brandon Jennings, Michael Redd, and Andrew Bogut are three strong players that deserve to be in the playoffs.

If I can't have the Bucks tickets, how about I just get a great Bradey Center seat for one of the games. The Bradley Center map is right here santa, so you can see which sections are the best. If you do not have time to actually go to the Bradley center to pick up the tickets, you can have one of your elves order them online. Thanks Santa!