Our Turn: Rockin’ Rhinelander with Oedipus, Zero 1, 4th Floor!
“Just a friend, if you need a friend you can call, I’ll be there if you need me to take them all.” – Lizzy by Oedipus
4th Floor (Ryan Wallis, Tim Hales, Mike Maney, Zach Hales) is a Wisconsin band that opened for the bands Oedipus (Jeremy Heffner, Stephan Cohen, Keith Larsen) and Zero 1 (Hal Sparks, Brian Crown, Bumper Renga, Lance Tamanaha) at their Rhinelander concert. The Rhinelander concert was just one of the many stops on the Oedipus and Zero 1 American Psycho (Zero 1’s album) Meets Vicious Little Smile (Oedipus’s album) tour.
Oedipus and Zero 1 both came from California to play shows in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. Both Oedipus and Zero 1 are popular alternative rock artists all over the USA, but Oedipus is also a big hit in Poland.
The first time I ever heard of Oedipus is when Keith Larsen (drummer of Oedipus) came into my school NCSS (Northwoods Community Secondary School) at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year to tell us his story of becoming a drummer. After he came to talk to us, I borrowed one of their albums from my friend Abbee Lane (Keith’s niece) and got into their music. I love just about all rock, so no surprise I really like them, but getting to hear them live made it better.
Before and after the concert, I got to meet and talk to the band members of Oedipus and Zero 1. It was really cool to talk to Keith again because he is from Rhinelander, his sister is one of the teachers at my school, he’s one of my best friend’s uncles and also because he’s just an all-around nice guy. Keith also came into our school again with Brian (guitar for Zero 1) this last week to tell us about being on tour. Stephan (guitar for Oedipus) was really cool also. We worked merchandise for him during the show. Stephan was the person I’d say that I spent the most time with, and was the one that I got to know the most, next to Keith. Bumper (bass for Zero 1) was the full on rocker guy, exactly like the image that first comes to mind when you say rocker, with the long black hair, skinny jeans and a leather coat. Hal Sparks was also cool, even though I only saw the “serious” side of him (another one of Hal’s jobs is as a comedian along with Brian). Jeremy (bass and lead vocal Oedipus) was really funny and I will always remember him by the U-Haul truck that said “move your elf” instead of “move yourself.” Also, I learned that I knew the lead singer of 4th floor from Hodag Country Fest. They were all really nice and I hope they come back soon!
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