Victoria Fortune had never been to Milwaukee, but that didn’t stop the Texan from traveling across the country to see Vinyl Theatre for the tenth time at MURadio’s spring concert April 8.
“I hadn’t been on a plane, (so) I took my first plane ride,” Fortune said.
Fortune wasn’t the only non-Marquette student at the Annex Saturday. Headliner Vinyl Theatre, an alternative rock band from Milwaukee, attracted a crowd from as close as neighboring schools to as far as the southern United States.
Jessica Bernardo met Fortune at a past Vinyl Theatre concert, and the two bonded over their love for the band. The Chicago native carpooled with Fortune after her plane landed at O’Hare International Airport.
Bernardo saw Vinyl Theatre five times before visiting Marquette. She has been to a variety of concerts at and around Purdue University, where she goes to school, but was excited to accompany Fortune to her first Milwaukee show.
“Everything was really easy to get into,” Bernardo said. “(It’s) been pretty cool so far.”
Openers Ako and Apollo LTD set the tone for Vinyl Theatre’s explosive energy. Equally so, the energetic groups pumped up the crowd for the big performance.
Ako, the first act of the night, came in first place at Battle of the Bands in February.
Band member Joey Scott saw support from his friends Jessie Heesacker and Erika Kvam, whom he attends school with at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Heesacker and Kvam watched Scott as he performed, but the two sat together in the crowd for the following acts.
Persistent energy carried through the night. “They all had really good stage presence,” Heesacker said.
Kvam echoed praise for the two openers. She mainly came to see Scott play, but was pleasantly surprised with the variety of music performed.
Scott applauded Apollo LTD, the second opening act of the night.
“I love the whole atmosphere that they bring with them … it really makes you wanna move,” Scott said after his set. “I have no doubt that Vinyl Theatre will bring the same energy and just blow the doors off this place.”
For dedicated fans like Fortune, who has a tattoo of the Vinyl Theatre logo on her wrist, the highlight of the show was the main act. During their set, she was dancing near the back of the venue with her friends to original hits such as “Breaking Up My Bones,” and a handful of covers, such as The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done.”
Jessica Doyle, a senior in the College of Nursing, agreed that the best part of the night was when the main act came on stage.
“I had never heard of Vinyl Theatre before,” Doyle said. “They did a really good job keeping the audience engaged and playing songs that were fun to dance to.”