by Dave Boehler
for The Beacon

PLYMOUTH RESIDENTS KIM HAU AND SON AVERY take in The Stadium Tour 80’s rock concert in Milwaukee. -submitted photo

Some 40,000 people or so were at The Stadium Tour in Milwaukee on Sunday July 17, including many from the area.

They were at Am Fam Field to see Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and it was hard to find anyone who left disappointed.

“We had the best night ever,” said Elkhart Lake resident Jennifer Slowinski said. “My daughter will never be able to experience anything like that – real rock. … It was fantastic because I got to share the experience with her. She’ll never experience that kind of show again because they’re probably never going to tour again.

“They were playing and dancing and running around just like they did when they were young. It was fantastic. You wouldn’t have guessed how old they were if you didn’t know. They put in 100% the whole time. All of them.”

Laura Shaw of Sheboygan agreed.

“I think it was a frickin’ amazing concert,” she said. “I think it was hands down one of the best ones I’ve been to in years. The experience was great. … The whole aura of everybody was awesome. It was all around a great time.

“I hadn’t seen any of them before, so it was great. I mean, they had that place rocking.”

Worth the wait

The concert was originally scheduled for Aug. 18, 2020, and then Aug. 28, 2021, but it was postponed both times because of the pandemic.

Plymouth resident Kim Hau’s sister actually had hard tickets for their group and she managed not to lose them over the course of two years by stuffing them in her desk.

“That was good because she had thrown away all of her 2020 Brewer tickets,” Hau said. “She still had these in an envelope, so that was good.”

All in the family

Slowinski’s soon-to-be 16-year-old daughter accompanied her mom, but how many kids that young were in attendance?

“One,” said Slowinski, referring to hers. “We did not see anybody younger than like late 20s. Maybe some early 20s.”

The teenager was there, however, because she is a percussionist who loves these bands.

“Our family listens to every genre of music,” Slowinski said.

Included in Hau’s group was her 19-year-old son – she says he was born in the wrong decade – because these are the bands he’s also into after learning to play guitar several years ago.

“I grew up in that time and I thought (their music) was fine,” Hau said. “I probably wouldn’t have needed to go, but he was pretty pumped about it. … Seeing him there and being excited as he was made it 100% worth it for me. It made me enjoy it even more.”

Times have changed

Gone are the days of fans holding up cigarette lighters during slow songs.

Now, all one sees is the flashlight on smart phones swaying back and forth.

“It was just the coolest frickin’ thing ever,” Shaw said.

Added Hau: “I just thought that was great. It was kind of odd because of course in years past it was lighters, and now it’s cell phones. It was very cool and I guess it’s the sign of the times now. I thought that was pretty awesome.”

Where’s the car?

Shaw laughed when talking about having to spend 40 minutes with her friend looking for their car in the huge parking lot after the concert.

At least she wasn’t stuck in long lines of those people wanting to leave right away.

“By the time we got out of there, we were on the highway pretty quick,” she said. “I know there was a ton of traffic coming in.”