Entertainment to be provided by the Rabid Aardvarks
By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
The Elkhorn Area Fire Department is having its 46th annual Elkhorn Firefighters Street Dance from 6 p.m. to midnight tonight outside of the fire station on South Broad Street in Elkhorn.
The event will kick off with raffles, food and drinks at 6 p.m. and feature music from the Rabid Aardvarks from 8 p.m. to midnight.
The entry cost is $10 and an ID will be required to receive a wristband for alcoholic beverages.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Elkhorn Area Fire Department and help it to not only continue its fire prevention and education efforts, but also firefighter safety.
Rabid Aardvarks
The Rabid Aardvarks, which will be providing live entertainment at Saturday’s event, are a six-piece band out of the Waukesha-area featuring two female vocalists, a guitar player, drummer, bass player and keyboard player.
Keyboardist Kevin Machan said when it comes to the style of music they play, they’re tagline is “Pop, Country and Throwback hits.”
Machan said about two-thirds of the show will include fairly current pop and country hits from within the past five years or so. The rest, he said, goes to throwbacks, the songs from the past everybody knows and loves.
“We do a couple Journey songs, we do some old Bon Jovi, that classic style,” he said. “It’s all material that we kind of drop in if it feels like a good fit for us. The throwback bucket is kind of a catch all of a little bit of classic rock, a little bit of classic-new country and some songs from the 90s.”
Something which Machan said sets the Rabid Aardvarks apart from some of the other acts in the area is that the entire show is truly live, meaning that the band does not use sequencing, or computers to supplement the band while performing live.
“We’re considered a certified live band, which means that everything is performed live,” he said. “For us, we take pride in the fact that five of the six of us sing. So when you hear those multi-part harmonies, they’re happening at that moment. We’re not playing to a pre-recording that has some, or perhaps in some instances, all of them.
“Any of the instruments you hear are being played live too.”
Being an all-live band, Machan said it has its perks for not only the audience, but the band as well. He noted for example that the band can play with its set list, altering it as needed during a show rather than having to base it off of what’s set up on a computer.
“We just decided that we like the feel of a live show,” he said.
Machan said it allows them to take requests on occasion much easier. While, pre-recording vocals allows bands to handle a sick vocalist a bit easier as well, Machan said however for them, having five vocalists, they can much more easily shuffle around vocal parts to make a song work regardless.
“If somebody’s having a bad night, we just shift some of the responsibilities around,” he said.
“For us, it’s kind of a source of pride, our niche to the market, something we do a little bit differently.”
While the band has not played this street dance before, Machan said the Rabid Aardvarks have played several venues in the area – like the former Jerzee’s Sports Bar and Grill in East Troy and the Coach House off of I-43, now Kelly’s Bleachers 3 – in the past when it focused more on shows at area establishments than private events and festivals.
“We had a number of people who came up from Elkhorn and the surrounding areas to see us regularly,” he said.
“We’re very, very excited to get back down in that area and have the opportunity to meet up with some old friends and hopefully make some new ones along the way,” he added.
The band has been popular throughout Southeast Wisconsin, being honored at the Wisconsin Area Music Industry awards, receiving the Cover Band of the Year award from their peers in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, and has won the People’s Choice award – voted on by the public – in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
“It’s nice to get that mix of peer recognition and public recognition,” he said. “We have a lot of good acts in our corner of our state and statewide. We’ve got some good talent around here, so it’s nice to be recognized.”
Individual members of the band have also been nominated in the past for individual awards, including drummer of the year, keyboardist of the year and bassist of the year.
For more on the Rabid Aardvarks, visit rabidaardvarks.com.
