Nothing beats the tradition of a “My Hometown” year-end BoDeans show

If you’re a fan of alternative/roots rock music from the 1980s to the present or watched the 1990’s television series “Party of Five,” then you don’t have to be from the Milwaukee Metro Area to know we’re the hometown for the BoDeans. Local BoDeans fans have become used to ending each year with the BoDeans making a hometown show. BoDeans co-founder, Kurt Neumann, and the band made sure to not disappoint the sold-out show at Potawatomi’s Northern Lights Theater.

About the venue
The Northern Lights Theater inside the Potawatomi Casino offers an intimate music experience with high-quality professional sound and lighting. This venue seats 500 and offers concert-style seating upstairs while offering pub-style seating on the ground level. It’s easy to forget Northern Lights Theater is inside a casino by the time the concert begins because the Potawatomi created such a fantastic venue experience. There are easily accessible full bars on both levels. There are no bad seats in this venue and those who are fortunate enough to have ground-floor front-row seating are practically connected to the stage. This is a perfect venue to feel connected to the performers, and for performers to feel connected to their audience.

About BoDeans
“The music was always about the blue-collar dream of a better life, and it still is.” – Kurt Neumann

Kurt Neumann – co-founder, lead vocals, guitarist

Stefano Intelisano – keys, accordion
Brian Ferguson – drums
James Hertless – bass, harmony vocals

The Show
The BoDeans were immediately welcomed by their audience as soon as they took to the stage and set the night by opening with “Idaho” followed by “Ya Gotta Go Crazy.” Kurt shared his story of his first job working for his father at JC Penny’s former location on 35th and North Avenue in Milwaukee, then moving to Waukesha where he graduated from High School and pursued his passion of being both an excellent musician and songwriter.

This brought us to “My Hometown” which has had a resurgence with #WaukeshaStrong, in response to the incredibly tragic Waukesha Christmas parade massacre.

“Only Love” was next and that was when I really took a look at the audience and saw a combination of wide smiles, couples dancing, and what sounded like at least half of the audience was singing along with Kurt for the rest of the night. There was so much reactionary enthusiasm from this audience with every song performed, which meant these fans were long-term fans who did not miss a beat as they sang along with the classics.

Speaking of classics, the audience was on their feet for “Fadeaway,” “Good Things,” and “Closer To Free.”

There most certainly was a positive exchange of energy from the audience to the BoDeans and back to the audience, as this was absolutely a fantastic show!

I also overheard many couples talk about how much fun they had at this show, and how this was their New Year’s Eve on 12/29/22.

Click Here for the Full Gallery of the Evening!

If you happened to capture any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see.

Set List
1. Idaho
2. Ya Gotta Go Crazy
3. My Hometown
4. Flyaway
5. It’s Only Love
6. Dreams
7. Come Along Way
8. You Don’t Get Much
9. Texas Ride Song
10. Still The Night
11. I’m On Fire
12. Naked
13. Good Work
14. Fadeaway
15. Good Things
16. Drift Away
17. Tied Down and Chained
18. Closer To Free