Its strong on country, as you might expect, and as far as the numbers game, the music groups are seven in total, and steer away from the soloists and duets that have been popular for largely cost reasons for a few years at many local venues. But Booster Days 2019, like other years, is played at the spacious Lakefront Park band shell, a far cry from the summer patio scene, so you’ll see a lot of five-member lineups, with the Sunday finale breaking from that course: The music starts Thursday, on July Fourth itself, and runs through Sunday.
The lineup includes The Chubs and Yam Haus on Thursday evening, Bigly and Stone Daisy Band on Friday, Wicked Garden and Rhino on Saturday, and Miller Denn and Ditch Creek Dixies on Sunday, at 1:30 p.m. The rest of the bands start at 5 p.m. if they are the introductory group, and 9 p.m. if they headline.
This Fourth holiday should come first:
One of the main sponsors of Booster Days and its music, the number of bands of which is even greater than usual because of the Thursday timing of the July Fourth holiday, is the Family Fresh market and grocery store on Coulee Road. They say they feel such backing of the local community through festivals such as these is vital, especially these days when some view the times as somewhat tumultuous and so being patriotic as Americans is all the more important. That is why it is even more crucial to take some time and fully celebrate the holiday that marks our freedom.
Family Fresh can help toward that end, by supplying you with items that help make things festive to go along with the music, such as inexpensive but prime cuts of steak to grill, not to mention ground beef and hot dogs that are also very affordable and are in packs that will keep everyone happy, no matter the size of your party. Plus, you’ve hardly walked in the door and you can see great prices on specialty brats and hot dog buns, lots of condiment options to put on them, various chips, and even everything you need for S’Mores if having a fire pit up at the cabin, (with festive flags positioned all through the display). And at the enclosed Caribou Coffee store off the the right side, you can get your growler and with it comes a free refill of any size, plus an additional price off you’re seniors (if you’re treating granddad and grandma on this holiday, as they have seen the many ways our patriotism has played out positively over the decades, as they love all this food and drink stuff, too).
The Boosters bring it, and busta move:
The bands at Booster Days are, two each day except Sunday, in order of appearance:
— The Chubs call themselves a cohesive group of classic rock musicians from different generations, who play a wide variety of styles in that genre and beyond, which is what you want when trying to reach a broad audience such as at Booster Days. And they wander well into Cheesehead country with their performances, way beyond the Booster Days turf, so they know what we like here.
— The Chubs are followed up by local and regional rockers Yam Haus, a group of young artists who took The Valley and its festivals, especially in summer, by storm a couple of years ago and have been building a loyal, local following through frequent gigs in the Hudson area, mostly, and beyond. A combo of classic and closer-to-current rock that’s not unecessarily hard, although there might be a long Deep Purple solo mixed in. The onstage banter can be very entertaining, and wittier than you might expect from such a young crew.
— The members of Bigly came to this point after service in various previous bands in the region and they play all different styles of tunes, up to and including funk and soul. Like Rhino, they have a sense of humor, as is shown by their online bio that references some disco songs in their mix, then backs off it, saying they are just joking. But they seriously get after their funk interpretation of Sweet Child of Mine by Guns ‘N’ Roses.
— The Stone Daisy Band is through and through country, traditional and vintage, modern and slightly crossover, and all sorts of tunes that touch upon the genre. For example, just know that the first song listed on their set list is La Grange by ZZ Top. Also, the drummer has been up and down and around with various acts. (And the band’s main web site photo looks like it could have been taken in virtually any farm field in western Wisconsin).
— Wicked Garden gets more specific with its sound, down and dirty and gritty, covering the grunge power groups that filled the top 100 charts in the 1990s, such as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots (hence the band name) and Alice in Chains. They also cover several grunge-influenced bands from today, such as Tool, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age.
— Lots of bands say they are high energy, but if longevity is any measure, Rhino truly brings it. That quality, and a sense of just plain fun, is demonstrated by their “everyman” band photos online, one of which shows a member — their are five of them, like many groups at Booster Days 2019 — blowing bubble gum. I guess they can walk, play and chew gum at the same time. The guy in the Aussie-look black hat has always been cool.
— Miller Denn joins the Ditch Creek Dixies to wrap up the fest, and they steer more toward the traditional country, and that painting of a big steer in the background of a main photo shows you what you’re getting. The look of the costuming by the two blonde haired “Dixies,” who must be simply in their teens or just past, bears this out.

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