The Mifflin Street Block Party is upon us. Tomorrow morning, many students will wake up earlier than they have since football season for one last chance to cut loose before finals.
This year, Mifflin will be all about the music. Event sponsor DCNY Pro has partnered with WSUM student radio and Maximum Ink Music Magazine to bring two live music stages to the event. WSUM is sponsoring a DJ stage at Bassett Street and Mifflin Street and Maximum Ink is sponsoring a rock stage at Bedford Street and Mifflin Street.
Maximum Ink Music Magazine was last involved with the Mifflin Street Block Party in 1994 when business partners Black n' Tan, Rökker and Phil Meyer ran the 25th anniversary of the party. That year's event was the largest block party to date, with 31,000 people in attendance.
""For me, the party is close to my heart so being able to do the stage is an honor and I'm really excited,"" said Rökker, who is the publisher of Maximum Ink. ""It's fun to see that the city is allowing people to organize and is loosening up.""
The Maximum Ink stage will feature live music from noon to 7:00 p.m. from local favorites like VO5 (a ten-piece 70s disco band), Sexy Esther and the Pretty Mama Sisters (girl-powered indie-pop), The Nod (laid-back alternative-folk), and headliner Lords of the Trident (face-melting heavy metal, complete with ridiculous costumes). Also in the lineup is Shinobi Ninja, a ""crazy rock band from Brooklyn, New York,"" with strong ties to Madison, according to Rökker.
""The drummer and one of the other guys in the band actually graduated from UW in 2005,"" said Rökker.
The WSUM stage's lineup features eight DJs from the radio station and the local scene who will perform from noon to 6:35 p.m. on the corner of Bassett and Mifflin. Rollin' Barthes, Chanbycat, JD Woody, Jenniferocious, and M. White of WSUM will be joined by !OYE! and J. Dante of UW's First wave as well as The Dirty Disco Kidz.
""The DJ stage adds a lot of flavor to the whole experience,"" said Gabe Herrera (El Guapo). ""A lot of houses always get bands or DJs, but they get noise violations. This way, the music is in a place where everyone can enjoy it.""
Herrera and Patrick Tilley make up the DJ duo Rollin'Barthes and will perform as the openers for the WSUM stage on Saturday. Tilley, who goes by the name DJ Hott Dogg, will spin while wearing an actual hotdog costume, promised Herrera.
Following last year's successful party, both students and city officials are looking forward to tomorrow's party.
""Having a sponsor was a big deal to the police department leadership,"" Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said. ""Part of [last year's success] was because the police were much more chill and laid back, instead of a zero-tolerance approach.""
""I'm optimistic that this year, given the success of last year and given that the police are so pleased with how things went last year, that by doing this bigger and better with our same team of sponsors, this will be a really good weekend,"" Verveer said.
