Boogie down to Gather!

Armchair Boogie’s Augie Dougherty, Ben Majeska, Eli Frieders, and Denzel Connor returned to Gather on Broadway for their first ticketed show on Gather’s stage, and Ben Majeska, Armchair Boogie’s acoustic and electric guitarist, was excited to speak on their memorable time touring after their recent album release.

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“We’ve been traveling around the country to different venues and festivals a lot since the release of our album Hard Times & Deadlines in March, so it was comforting to return to Wisconsin for a minute,” said Ben Majeska. “We’re definitely keeping busy, even bringing out some new music.”

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The busy band has had fun exploring festivals and towns around the country like the Hillberry Harvest Moon Festival in Arkansas, 4848 Festival in West Virginia, and Delfest in Maryland over the spring and summer of 2024, and while each one has been a fun experience for them, Majeska admits they look forward to their time home in Wisconsin most.

“Our time at home between shows and touring is short but sweet,” he commented. “There never seems to be enough time to see our families and friends, the places we miss hanging out at, but we’re always incredibly grateful for the time we do have. We’re spread pretty thin around the country, so we don’t get to visit Wisconsin as often as we’d like, but we don't take our time here for granted, whether it's on stage or off stage.”

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Not only do they enjoy being back in the general state of Wisconsin, but the greater Green Bay area holds a dear spot in their hearts due to their many returning fans, friends, and family, and even the new faces they meet at each show.

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“Being back in Wisconsin is already a big deal for us, but being back in Green Bay always excites us because we have a lot of friends who come from the Fox Valley and Door County to watch us play,” he said. “We had both friends and family and people we didn't know buying merch and asking to take pictures with us. It was a great turnout, and comforting to know how many people enjoy our music.”

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Since the band is quite familiar with the general area and its’ surrounding cities and features, they don’t necessarily always have time to hang out before being bussed off to the next show. However, they’ve certainly found ways to have fun with their friends the good, old-fashioned, Wisconsin way. 

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“We make time when we can in Green Bay,” Majeska smiled. “Last time we played Gather on Broadway, we went for a boat ride with a friend before the show, so we have cleared time before on our schedules to go around the city and enjoy it, but other times as a band you have to be pretty quick with how busy things are.”

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Even though their tight schedule sometimes doesn’t provide any time to relax or explore before their performance, Majeska assured their friends come to them, so they get to see their loved ones one way or another when in the area. 

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“We always enjoy playing Gather, there’s an incredible staff with incredible hospitality,” he spoke earnestly. “We have a lot of friends in the area who make the trek to come see us whenever we’re here, so the crowd is also always something we look forward to when playing Green Bay. It was a really great atmosphere on stage, I thought we sounded great, the energy we were receiving from the audience was so fun, it was an awesome ticketed show.”

“People like free, but they also like us enough to see our show even when it’s ticketed. We try not to even think about the ticket sales for our shows, we’re not in this for the sale revenue, we’re here to put on a good show. We’re just happy people want to come out and have fun with us.”

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As much as Gather is known as a wedding venue, Jyll and Tommy also have an affinity, and now a reputation, for extravagant events available for the public to purchase tickets to, such as the quarterly Taste events, Drag shows, and even live music shows like Armchair Boogie!

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“It’s a great space, we always appreciate the production team and how they make us sound,” Majeska stated. “It’s always a very comfortable situation for us, and feeling this comfortable on stage definitely helps us to put on a better show. This staff really knows how to treat the performers coming through. We greatly appreciate the fine folks of Green Bay, and look forward to coming back and playing another time!”

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After multiple performances on the Gather stage with a free entrance, Armchair Boogie was booked for their first-ticketed show on Gather’s stage on September 13, 2024. Co-owners of Gather, Jyll and Tommy Everman, were more than happy to sell tickets for the band’s future shows after seeing crowd after crowd turn out for the groovy band that just makes you want to get down and boogie!

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“I’d say we’re definitely comfortable on the Gather stage, we don’t test out a brand new song just anywhere,” smiled Majeska. “We’ll eventually be recording and releasing another album, and this song was from that collection. We decided to let Green Bay be the first to hear it, and that truly speaks volumes for both the audience and the venue. It was so fun to give back to the crowd in that way.”

“While we don’t have an exact date for this new album yet, or even titles to quite a few songs, we’ll probably record some of the completed songs we’ve had the responses we’re looking for before the full album is released, including the one we performed on Gather’s stage,” he revealed. “It’s fun for us to play new material, and it’s important to test it out with the crowds before it gets released.”

Can’t wait until the jammin’ band releases their next jam-packed album with hits like Hard Times & Deadlines? There’s good news! Armchair Boogie are frequently touring the country at different festivals and venues, and have even developed their own festivals that you can look forward to! 

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“We had our fourth annual ‘Boogie Down’ this July, a music festival our band started, and it’s been awesome to see it grow,” said Majeske fondly. “It’s definitely our favorite show every year. Set in the beautiful driftless region of Wisconsin, we’re the host band and we hire about 20 musicians for Driftless Music Gardens. We built a great stage for these artists and we’ve garnered a very close community through this event. A lot of the same people and bands come back annually and they bring more friends.”

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“We’re always on and off the road, but coming up this spooky season we’re preparing for our fourth annual Halloween show at the Majestic Theater in Madison, Wisconsin, the Boograss Ball, on October 25. It’s always such a fun party, filled with music and dancing, and of course, costumes. This year, we as a band have chosen a swamp monster theme, we’ll be dressed up and we’ll decorate the stage, we’ll see how it all comes together.”

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Keep an eye out on Armchair Boogie’s website for their shows and festivals to attend the fun yourself, and while you’re looking for fun events to attend in the Midwest, sign up for updates on Gather’s page, and be the first to know when tickets for another concert go on sale!

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https://www.gatheronbroadway.com/ 

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