They lift your spirits, prompt you to think, make you feel grateful and inspire you to do more. They connect you to our community, shining a spotlight on what's good about our city. They're stories that are Uniquely Milwaukee.
Milwaukee is a city where people love live music, no matter where it’s playing.
“I will go anywhere where funk music is playing. And if it’s on water, it’s an absolute yes.”
Jade Holcomb said that from her floating seat not far from the concert that happens every Wednesday night during the summer. Organized by FunkClub Wagon, the MKE River Round-Up music series puts that week’s band in a pontoon and invites anyone with a seaworthy vessel to join. Holcomb and her friends followed in a boat captained by Patrick Hill.
“Kayaks stay on the right, boats stay just to the left of them, but it’s just like a road,” he said. “There’s a lot of big boats, like the Edelweiss and the Vista King and other big boats that come through and cause a traffic jam, but fun is a definite rule.”
Fun is also the foundation of FunkClub Wagon, which has brought live music straight to the people since 2020. Owner-operator Jesse Voelker books the floating version and — as a musician himself — finds opportunities to perform. The series is powered by Joy Engine, and partners with businesses like the Milwaukee Kayak Company and Indeed Brewing.
“I just think it’s really unique. There’s not a lot of places in the world where you can be on calm water, safe water, and pull up to bars and eat,” Voelker said. “It’s the perfect length, too. Personally, I wasn’t a big kayaker. I always thought it was kind of boring, but now you’ve got a band and some beers and a bunch of people around, and now it’s a party.”
The party looked a lot different when FunkClub Wagon started, back during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The group first played in the streets of Milwaukee — and then, eventually, the water — as a way to lift spirits and be socially distant.
“It’s funny to ride around town on a trailer,” Voelker recalled. “It was definitely funny. We’d drive past the police, and the police would just kind of turn their heads because we were doing something good at a really dark time.”
Things are lighter these days, and the three-hour roundtrip adventures continue to grow. They start at the Twisted Fisherman on Milwaukee’s west side and hit the halfway point at The Harp downtown before heading back.
To Gianni Vaccaro, who works the free beer boat, the MKE River Round-Up is a new way to engage with the river, showcase Milwaukee’s beauty and get active.
“You’re just interacting the whole time,” said Vaccaro, who also runs the nonprofit Sauce MKE. “People bring their own kayaks. I just saw some foldable kayaks today. And there’s all these conversation pieces, even when you’re just passing people.
“It’s just kind of another event that brings a wide range of people together to just enjoy music.”
