Kings For a Day, Hopefully More

"We’re gonna make our dreams come true!" Saturday, March 13, 1999, at roughly 9 o’clock at night, the band Citizen King arrived on the Modjeska Theatre stage. With the theme song from the television show "Laverne and Shirley" playing, Citizen King appeared to an excited and eager crowd. This theme song is very fitting because the show was taped in Milwaukee and the band is from Milwaukee. It is also fitting because Citizen King is trying to finally make their dreams come true. After a few record deals turned sour, they released their first major label album, Mobile Estates, on the Warner Brothers label. The concert was to celebrate the release of their new album with their hometown crowd, along with beginning their national tour of the United States. Besides a few minor down points, the Citizen King concert pleased the hometown crowd in many different ways.

Citizen King performed their music well throughout the concert. They opened with the song "Under The Influence," the first track on their new album. This fast song immediately got the crowd of approximately 1,000 moving. Malcolm Micheles on the turntable, along with the fantastic drumming of DJ Brooks, provided the crowd with a very danceable beat. In different ways, the crowd was active the entire concert. Some fans simply bobbed their heads to the songs. Others danced wildly to the crazy beats. Still others sang and rapped the lyrics along with lead vocalist and bassist Matt Simms. This is quite impressive considering Mobile Estates was released a mere five days before the concert. Another group of fans jumped up and down while pushing and shoving one another, paying little or no attention to the band. This was a shame because there were a lot of interesting things happening on the stage.

While Citizen King played great music, they also put on a very good show for their fans. The stage itself was interesting. Behind the band were two large cutout skyscrapers. On the right was the downtown Milwaukee Milton Bradley building. The building on the left looked the same, but in place of the large clock was a Citizen King logo. There were two spotlights that shined upward and moved around throughout the concert, symbolizing a main attraction. During the song there was dry ice steam that made it appear to be a smokescreen. The setup on the stage was well thought out, with the five man band in a half circle shape. Matt introduced the multitalented band members in a fashion similar to heavyweight boxing matches. Keyboardist Dave Cooley didn’t miss a note and also roamed the stage like a king when playing other instruments. Setup on the left side of the stage, guitarist Kristian Riley played great music, sang, and bobbed his head while moving to the music. Matt Simms showed many different personalities on stage. During songs like "Salt Bag Spill" and "Basement Show," he was active and displayed his rapping abilities. During other songs he was more laid back and sang. In fact, during "Closed For The Weekend," a gentle song telling a story, Matt decided to pull up a chair and sit while singing. The energy level of the fans rose with the final song before the encore, "Smokescreen," This is a very intense song with the refrain starting, "I get mean, in the smokescreen." Citizen King finished the concert with the encore song "Pitiful Men." The crowd enjoyed the final song.

However, there were a few low points to the concert. The first was that the concert was rather short. Since it was their record release show, Citizen King mainly performed material off of Mobile Estates, which is only 43 minutes long. Altogether, the band played for a little over an hour. Another thing is that the music Citizen King produces is very unique and hard to explain. Their music genre consists of rock, pop, hip hop, soul, funk, and everything in between. Citizen King fan Joel Weaver said, "While the music was great, the crowd seemed somewhat confused." People in the crowd all responded and danced in different ways to the music. This caused overcrowding in certain areas. While these were a few low points, the good things definitely outweighed the bad. Citizen King really worked hard to please their hometown fans, and did just that. They all are perfectionists. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the band practiced numerous hours preparing before their performance that Saturday night. The band’s hard work showed off. The intricate and complicated music of the album was reproduce lived. The music sounded very crisp, precise, and without mistakes. The band appeared to be having a lot of fun with the hometown crowd. Before the radio friendly song "Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out…)," Matt Simms yelled out to the crowd, "This one is for all of you Milwaukee!" Actually, the music and the artwork of the new album often refers to Milwaukee. In "The Milky Way," Malcolm Micheles altered the sounds of an old polka with the main phrase saying, "Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, a happy place to be." The crowd danced and cheered loud after every song, a delightful site for bands. Old fans and new fans alike cheered for the encore song "Pitiful Men." This is song from one of their earlier independent albums. The Milwaukee crowd and the band seemed to love every minute of the concert.

Citizen King worked through the low points to please the hometown crowd. They seem to be making their dreams come true. They may have a few small things to work on, but the March 13th concert was an overall success. If the Milwaukee show was a sign of their future touring, then they are in good shape. They have an excellent album to tour with, have great stage personalities, have an interesting stage, play outstanding music, and please their fans. Before one can appreciate how good a Citizen King concert is, one would really have to experience it in person. It really is an experience. Being a king, or Citizen King, must feel pretty good right now.

Joshua Raabe