Limbeck has always been a band that knows and understands anyone in attendance not just their fans. They perform to please the audience in front of them not their ideal audience

Anyone should have been surprised at how diverse of a crowd had shown up to Friday’s Limbeck show. There was a coalition hipsters, Riverwesties, Bros and a fair amount of people that seemed too old to be fans of such a rising band, but that’s what I think is most impressive about the band: Their ability to draw a crowd no matter where they play.

This was the first time Limbeck had played a venue as large as the Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee, but it felt like an absolutely perfect fit.

This performance was a shining example of good audio mixing for a show. Not one element over powered the rest. The vocals were able to shine, even through the superior melodies coming from the speakers.

“We usually play in a smaller place, like Mad Planet, but tonight were playing classy. They even brought out the candles. I’d have to say this is one of the coolest places we’ve ever played in,” said guitarist Patrick Carrie, while the band took a second to tune their instruments.

The crowd could tell that the band was having a good time on that historic stage. From the moment the opening chords of “Honk and Wave” began to fill the venue, one could see and feel the shift in the audience’s disposition.

The show’s opening acts had left the audience mellow and not entirely in the moment. Their songs didn’t have the same life that the audience would soon experience from Limbeck.

The crowd got up from their tables and comfortable seats to move to the front of the stage, singing and nodding their heads to the melodic beat that was pushing away the doldrums that had previously settled into the corners of the room.

Limbeck promised a diverse sampling of songs from their catalog and they delivered with a set list of well known, lesser known, and a few new songs. The crowd sang along the whole while, so much so that it would have been hard for anyone at the show to know that they didn’t play a selection of title tracks.

The climactic moment of the performance seemed to come just before the band’s set ended and they played “Big Drag” from their latest album. It built the audience up enough that when Limbeck exited the stage and didn’t immediately return for their encore, fear developed in the eyes of many audience members.

When they did return, fresh PBRs in their hands, their encore was dedicated to the fans.

They wrapped up the show by playing “People Don’t Change” and said it described the Milwaukee fans because they are always so cool when they come to town.

Limbeck has always been a band that knows and understands anyone in attendance to their shows, not just the die-hard fans. They perform to please the audience in front of them, not their ideal audience. This makes them unlike most bands.

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