Fort Frances- Cedarburg Cultural Center, 3/12/16

photo courtesy of Gigshots by Stephen Bloch

You could tell from the moment that David McMillin, Aaron Kiser, Jeffrey Piper and newest member of Fort Frances, Jason Ryan, took the stage, that these were four gentlemen who loved playing music together.  They entered the stage caring brass instruments they amusingly found in the backstage area the ornately intimate Cedarburg Cultural Center, with ear-to-ear grins.  Needless to say, the saxophone and trombone never made their way into the set, but the band delivered a riveting ninety minutes of career-spanning material featuring tracks from their 2001 debut LP The Atlas up to tracks off of their latest record set to drop next month, Alio.  If I had to summarize Fort Frances's live performance in one simple sentence it would be: Fort Frances is fun.  

The Cedarburg Cultural Center is known for having one of the most respectful audiences of any venue around- where patrons politely clap between numbers and don't talk during songs, which makes it a great place to both see live music as well as for musicians to perform.  However, McMillin quickly instructed the crowd after their set opener, "Habits," to feel free to get up, dance, get beverages, etc., saying that we're here to have fun.  And have fun the strong crowd at the CCC had!

photo courtesy of Gigshots by Stephen Bloch

Fort Frances is an audience-friendly band, and the musicians quipped frequently on stage about everything from how Cedarburg should be the hub of Milwaukee, and the rest of the city its suburb to creating an improv jingle for "Piper Pancakes," in honor of bassist Jeffrey Piper's affection for the ever-fluffy flour based breakfast confection.  The palpable joy exuded from the musicians on stage, transferred into their songs, and brought large grins to the audience members as well, who gave a riviting standing ovation to end their performance.

Fort Frances couples McMillin's self-described "sensitive rock" lyrics and slightly drawling vocals with a solid indie rock sound from Kiser's percussion, Piper's bass and Ryan's piano licks and guitar work.  Kiser and Piper often sing harmony along with McMillin to form stunning soundscapes  and robust refrains on numbers like "These Are the Mountains Moving."

In many ways, the band's latest material is some of it's most adventurous and progressive.  New numbers like,  "Light Years," "You Got the Wrong Man," and "Building A Wall," were well-received and showcased the band pushing its boundaries more.  These tunes make the audience wait in anticipation for the band's second official LP Alio to drop next month.

photo courtesy of Gigshots by Stephen Bloch

In addition to original material, Fort Frances played two beautiful reworked covers. The first was a piano-driven rendition of Wilco's "I'm Always In Love," which they recorded as a Valentine's Day treat to their fans and released online.  The second was an encore performance of "I Shall Be Released," by Bob Dylan which featured the quartet gathered around the gorgeous Cedarburg Cultural Center's Steinway piano with McMillin playing and the rest of the guys singing along.  This was certainly a goosebumps inducing selection in a set that was filled with the magic of what fun it is to create and experience good rock music.


 Opening for Fort Frances was Will Pfrang.  Pfrang is a young singer-songwriter and guitar virtuoso who performed an engaging thirty minute set in a style similar to Jack Johnson in many ways.  Pfrang mixed refreshing numbers from his 2015 release "All Figured Out," along with some well-placed covers.  Despite some technical issues with the mix early on, Pfrang demonstrated outstanding poise on stage, choosing to make technical difficulties a reason to sing Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" unn-miced and acoustic.

Fort Frances Setlist:

Habits

Ghosts of California

How to Turn Back Again

Anonymous

I'm Always in Love (Wilco cover)

These Are the Mountains Moving

Best of Luck

Light Years

Piper Pancakes (**first time played)

You Got the Wrong Man

Building a Wall

Days Get Heavy

I Had Love

Plastic Hearts

Encore:

I Shall Be Released (Dylan cover)

Cities in Dust