Never a city with a whirlwind of reggae activity, Milwaukee has suffered a drought worse than ever the past few years. So, it's always good news to hear about a reggae gig in town, much less three in one weekend.
Club Garibaldi, 2501 S. Superior St., hosts a reggae weekend June 22-24. On Friday, June 22, Mystic Roots, from Chico, Calif., makes its third Brew City appearance. The band was twice named the best regggae band in L.A. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.
On Saturday, Milwaukee reggae DJs Reggae 101 spins dancehall tunes. Admission is $5 at the door.
On Sunday, Britain's Pato Banton returns. Banton, a UK reggae stalwart, also played at Garibaldi in January. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.
There are also 80 weekend tickets that are good for all three shows and are $30. Buy your tickets at Club Garibaldi in Bay View.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
