October 23, 2023
Been a bit of a crazy summer medically for me and I missed a lot of things going on, both good and bad.
I didn't realize that Gary Wright had passed at 80 years old on September 4, 2023.
Gary was born in New Jersey and started as a child actor at age 7 on television, and then started acting on Broadway before being cast on the Brady Bunch for several years.
He was a musician from an early age and decided to back up that career by becoming a doctor! He then went to Germany to study and specialize in psychology.
All this time he was in many bands and the most notable was Spooky Tooth. He also played on former Beatle George Harrison's album, All Things Must Pass. He even went to India with George for some musical events.
In the 1970's he went solo and his most famous song is probably Dream Weaver in 1975.
I had the pleasure of photographing him in 1977. It was a nice show with great lighting and numerous fog machines. It made for good photos!
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
August 7, 2023
I've had the privilege to photograph a lot of different things in my life and I never take it for granted.
This year at Gathering on the Green I photographed Rise and Shine In The Park on Sunday July 16th at Mequon Rotary Park. Wisconsin's Frankie Moscato and the national act ,Cain, also performed.
That was a unique experience like I've never witnessed, and was good to see people having fun with religion and music together. There was also a live painting being done as the show was going on for charity.
Frankie Moscato is a young American Idol contestant. The band Cain is a brother with his two sisters performing. It was great music and fun on a really windy day. Frankie lost her hat at the beginning of the first song and I even retrieved it for her! You can see it on top of the piano as she didn't wear it for the rest of the set.
Saturday night July 15th was the rock night with the bands Starship featuring old friend Mickey Thomas and Ann Wilson from the band Heart. Guitars for Vets, contests and raffles were also going on.
I've known Mickey Thomas since his days with Elvin Bishop in 1977 at Milwaukee's Summerfest and again in 1979. I photographed a meet and greet with Mickey and Starship singer Cian Coey. We talked a bunch before the show about the old days. Included here is a meet and greet photo with me in it!!
Mickey is probably most famous for his song "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" from the Elvin Bishop days and he ended his show dedicating the song to me!! Very cool and appreciated Mickey!
Ann Wilson from Heart played after Starship and it was good to hear some old tunes and a few new ones.
Guitars for Vets opened up the night with a nice set.
WAMI and Guitars for Vets have been around for a few years and it was cool to see veterans having fun! Plus, they are great musicians doing it all for a very worthy cause.
Enjoy a look at a fun filled weekend for me!
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
The Doobie Brothers in 1975 with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and Tom Johnston at Milwaukee's PAC.
May 15, 2023
On July 7, 2023 at Milwaukee's Summerfest we all got a great treat with Rod Stewart and his band.
It was a great show with a HUGE stage setup. His band included a harp and four girls playing and singing that helped him open the show with Robert Palmer's song "Addicted To Love".
With the two girls on either side of Rod all in the same outfits, it looked just like Robert Palmer's MTV video years ago of the song.
Exceptional band and show!
Enjoy these photos of the show.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
May 1, 2023
On March 6, 2023 a photo display was completed for the Bruce Springsteen concert at FiServ Forum here in Milwaukee.
Some awesome fellow photographers and I contributed some images and the FiServ folks went to work making an incredible display for the band to see.
Bob Cavallo, David Bernacchi, Rick Kohlmeyer, Gary Dineen, myself and the Milwauke Journal team provided the images. They were of the Boss and the E Street Band in Milwaukee through the years.
The large prints were put into the individual dressing rooms of the band members.
The hallway photos are going from where the buses park to the dressing room entrances. They made a really nice wrap on the walls and lit them nicely hiding the cords perfectly.
Above the doorway going to the dressing rooms they even had a neon sign made saying their famous line made famous in Milwaukee in 1975, "Are You Loose?". This is from the 1975 bomb scare show at the Milwaukee Uptown Theater.
In 1975 the show was shut down with a called in bomb scare. They said they will come back later that tonight once the place was cleared and searched. So, the band went back to the Pfister Hotel and had a few drinks and got loose!
When they returned at about 1am the first words out of Bruce Springsteen's mouth were "Are You Loose?"! The show was awesome and I think everyone was loose!
Enjoy a look at these photos of Bruce and the E Street band in Milwaukee from 1975 to 2023.
The band liked this photo tribute so much thtat they put it on their Instagram account @StevieVanZandt! The last photo here shows that post.
Also, checkout the film reel they did on Instagram @bsesb_tour! They did a better film job of the hallway than my still photos.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
Cheap Trick playing at Milwaukee's Summerfest on July 7, 2022.
April 17, 2023
Since 1973 the band Cheap Trick has been a large part of Milwaukee's rock'n' roll scene. In my college days they would perform at Humpin Hanna's here in Milwaukee.
They are based out of Rockford, Illinois with two of the original members from Milwaukee. Bun E. Carlos the original drummer still lives in Milwaukee but parted from the band in 2010. Xeno (Randy Hogan) was the original vocalist from 1973-1974 and then Robin Zander took over on vocals and guitar.
The band began with Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson who had a couple of bands before Cheap Trick. They changed the name of their band to Cheap Trick after watching the band Slade and said they used every cheap trick in the book!
I've photographed the band a lot through the years and this lineup is the best now I think.
It is Rick Nielsen on guitar with his son Daxx on drums, Tom Petersson is still on bass, Robin Zander on vocals and his son Robin Taylor Zander plays guitar. Robin Taylor Zander has played every instrument in the band. For years he has been filling in for someone when they were sick and most recently when Tom Petersson had open heart surgery a few years ago.
Nice to see Rick and Robin's sons playing in the band. Daxx on drums is just awesome!
Enjoy a few photos of the men at work.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
April 17, 2023
It's getting closer to Summerfest time and I'm still editing last year's massive pile of photos!
The band Guster played on July 9, 2022 and The WhiskeyBelles on July 7, 2022 on the Summerfest grounds.
Guster is a band that has been around for years and they getting better with every show. Ryan Miller and Adam Gardner really put on the lead guitars and vocals.
The WhiskeyBelles are a local Milwaukee band playing great bluegrass music and continue to get more popular every day. Chrissy Dzioba Clobes leads the trio with Kimberly Hanson on fiddle and Sara Moilanen on bass.
Enjoy a look at two great bands!
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
March 20, 2023
More of some Summerfest photography for you today with my friends, The Tubes!
Fun band that I've photographed a few times since 1975, and this is the most current version of the band on July 7, 2022 at Summerfest.
Gave Fee Waybill, the singer and main man of the band some old photos of himself and he flipped out! He loved them! Fun guy and he even signed one for me. He showed his wife and she was impressed at his then "Quay Lewd" character and outfit.
Fee said that character only comes out late at night now!
Checkout Fee Waybill, Prairie Prince, Roger Steen and the band here and anytime you can. They do a great show.
This show had a ton of fog rolling in off of Lake Michigan at 4:30pm and it took some Photoshop cleanup to cut through it.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
Guster having fun playing Summerfest on July 9, 2022.