Milwaukee’s Oriental Theatre isn’t just a historic movie palace, it’s a historic concert venue. Dedicated musical concerts at the East Side theater may be few and far between these days, but, over the decades, it has hosted shows from the likes of Devo, The Pretenders (you know, the show where they discovered the Violent Femmes), and many more.
Oh, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, as evidenced by this totally sweet bootleg recording from 1985:
The scorching two-hour Oriental show took place on December 7, 1985. It was part of Vaughan’s “Soul To Soul Tour,” which was in support of the album of the same name that was released in September.
Songs played by Vaughan and his Double Trouble band include Soul To Soul selections like “Say What?” and “Change It,” older songs like “Pride And Joy” and “Love Struck Baby,” and covers like Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” and Buddy Guy’s “Mary Had A Little Lamb.” (Find the full setlist HERE.) Wikipedia informs us the show drew 2,074 people, and that it made a cool $30,073. That’s works out to $14.50 for tickets, lol. (Roughly $42 adjusted for inflation.)
Oh, and opening the show (though not included on the recording)? Milwaukee’s own R&B Cadets, featuring Paul Cebar. Nice! [h/t Chris Vos]
Want more Milwaukee Record? Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and/or support us on Patreon.