The idea was so perfect, those of us at Radio Milwaukee HQ couldn’t believe it hadn’t been done before. Five Wisconsin bands (four Milwaukee and one Madison) playing a mini-festival of sorts at a Culver’s restaurant. Not sponsored by Culver’s. At an actual restaurant.
When Brew City’s outfit Bug Moment initially posted the news, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Smiles — emoji and IRL — broke out across the area. Media shared the story (including us) and failed to contain their excitement (definitely us).
Then … this post Friday morning:
culvers has unfortunately canceled the show. we are so sorry :( thank you for all the love and support. diy forever pic.twitter.com/I3jUhjMwcc
— BUG MOMENT LP1 OUT NOW (@BugMoment) June 23, 2023
I’m too sad to retype the whole thing, but here are a few highlights. It seems that Bug Moment did all of their due diligence as far as getting approvals and were rewarded with all of our enthusiasm. Somewhat cruelly, that enthusiasm spooked Culver’s corporate and the franchise owner, who reached out less than 12 hours after the initial announcement requesting a cancellation.
Despite efforts from the band to add security, take crowd-control measures and even wade into the frightening world of insurance, the naysayers continued saying “nay.” So, for the time being anyway, that’s that. The show is officially on ice. Or deep fried, if you prefer.
Farewell, Culver’s concert. You were too beautiful for this world.
