Willy Porter and his band with Carmen Nickerson at Summerfest on September 4, 2021.

October 18, 2021

I finally took another item off of my bucket list by photographing Alice Cooper and his band on October 1, 2021.  They played at the BMO Harris Pavilion on the Summerfest grounds.

I have wanted to photograph the show that I have seen before with my wife. It is a visual treat and his band members are some of the best musicians in the world!

Nita Strauss is rated the #1 female guitar player and I can see why. She is busy with Alice Cooper and also worked as the guitar player with the Arena Football team KISS, owned by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS!

Chuck Garric, Ryan Roxie, Tommy Henricksen are all great (gunslingers) guitar players. They play with Alice Cooper and all have other bands and projects when not working with Alice. The drummer, Glen Sobel, is the same in that he has other projects as well.

The band has always been top notch and a family affair with Alice's wife of many years, Sheryl Goddard Cooper,  in the act. She is an accomplished ballerina fits into the stage show very well.

Thank you to the people at Summerfest for letting me photograph Alice Cooper. If you get the chance go see the show, you won't be disappointed!

Enjoy a look at the band having fun.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Alice Cooper and his band rocking the BMO Harris Pavilion on the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee on October 1, 2021.

October 4, 2021

On September 1, 2021, the Summerfest music festival started up again in Milwaukee after a one year absence due to COVID-19. It was great to be back in the house!

This blog is on one of the MANY bands I photographed.  Night Ranger who played on September 3, 2021.

Night Ranger has been around in various forms since 1979. Jack Blades keeps the band rocking. The show is high energy and the guys really work it as you can see in the photos.

They were working the crowd with some of their legendary songs like "Sister Christian".

I will let the photos do the talking now. Enjoy a look at them having fun and sweating it out while rocking the house with possibly more energy than what they had in 1979!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Night Ranger, ROCKING the Summerfest grounds on September 3, 2021.

The great band from Texas, ZZ Top at Summerfest on 9-11-2021

September 20, 2021

Summerfest just finished it's third and last weekend of fun and music after no music festival last year.

One band that has been on my bucket list to photograph is ZZ Top. I've now photographed the guys three times and love to see what the guitars and drum kits look like because they different for each tour.

Bass guitar player, Dusty Hill, passed away not too long ago and before he died, he ordered the band to keep on going after his death!  So, Elwood Francis is the new bass player. He was their guitar tech for over 30 years and fits right in.

Prior to COVID-19, Elwood did not have a beard! He didn't shave during COVID and so he now has a beard to equal Dusty and Billy!!

Enjoy a look at some great guys with some interesting looking guitars and drum kit. As the drum kit says on the bass drum, "Aged to Perfection"! I have to agree!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

April 19, 2021

My wife and I have been watching Dan Rather and the interviews he has done with musicians and actors. Most of the episodes are quite old but we have never seen them until recently.

Always liked and respected Dan Rather who is a lot like my father with his style of reporting and news broadcasting.  However, my father definitely did not appreciate modern music as much as Dan Rather! Carl Zimmermann enjoyed Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra and that era of music. Dan Rather likes all styles of music it seems.

The other night we watched Dan interview Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. The interview was a few years old but it was great to watch. Dan Rather confirmed how different Ian Anderson is and how very opinionated he is about pretty much everything.

Ian is an interesting individual demonstrating that in his music lyrics and ideas in general. I find him to be a bit unusual but a very talented musician. He told Dan that he plays the flute because he didn't want to be like everyone else and play the guitar.

The shows of Jethro Tull are entertaining for sure. There is alot going on and during the "Passion Play" tour he had movies and a ballerina on stage. For 1973 this was special!

I was part of an interview with Ian in 1971 for the Bugle American newspaper I was working for. I photographed him then and again in 1972 and 1973. That interview in 1971 was very very interesting. Ian had an opinion on everything! I'll dig that up for another blog soon.

The photos here are from the show on June 6, 1972 at the Milwaukee Arena. I always thought the 1972 band was the best version with Martin Barre on guitar who is an amazing guitar player. John Evan played keyboards along with Jeffrey Hammond on bass guitar. Barriemore Barlow on drums was also very good and the band you could see had a lot of fun together.

Enjoy and be safe.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

March 8, 2020

Taking a look back at the Steve Miller Band in 1978, performing at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin.

Steve Miller's first band was started in 1966 and has had many transformations throughout the years. He is still playing! He was Wisconsin born and his Godfather was the great Les Paul!

The version shown here has two personal favorite musicians in the band.  They are Norton Buffalo who passed in 2009 and Leslie West who passed just last year.

This band was always having a fun time filling halls, arenas and what ever festival they played.

Steve has sold a lot of records and his greatest hits 1974-1978 album, that was released in 1978, sold over 13 million copies! One of them is downstairs and was recently played!

The photo with Leslie West is not the greatest but he was an amazing player so I had to include it.  He and Steve had a lot of fun playing together at this show. They also played together a year earlier at Milwaukee's Summerfest.

Enjoy a look at the guys in 1978.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

January 11, 2021

Happy New Year everyone and let's hope it's a better year for all of us!

Today, we take a look back at June 8,1975 for The Eagles show at Milwaukee County Stadium when they played with the Rolling Stones and Chaka Kahn.

It was a very, very hot June day and the house was packed.

I remember that the press box where I shot these photos from was shaking so much, because of the crowd in the grandstands, that my cameras actually shook!!

These photos from June were just before the band members changed.  Bernie Leodon was about to leave and Joe Walsh was coming at the end of 1975. Timothy B. Schmit would come in a couple of years and the sound of The Eagles was complete.

Enjoy a look back to our old Milwaukee County Stadium and the Eagles.

Be safe everyone!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann