What Happens At the Saturday "Big Show"

Ever wonder how some of the biggest names in music come together for an unforgettable cause? Get ready to be captivated as you learn about Freezing Man, our electrifying festival that blends rock legends, Grammy winners, and Top 40 icons all in the heart of Madison, Wisconsin. In this episode, I'm your host Mike Gomoll, and I'll be your guide through the magic and camaraderie that define Joey's Song's annual event. The festival runs from January 8th to the 11th, 2025, featuring an all-star lineup that includes Portugal. The Man, Debbie and Vicki from The Bangles, and John Rzeznick from Goo Goo Dolls, all coming together to support epilepsy research and patient services.

Join me as we highlight the grand finale, the Big Show on January 11th, where the stage transforms into the world's greatest live jukebox. Imagine your favorite artists playing each other's hits, rocking out to classics, and delivering performances you won't hear anywhere else. Plus, get a glimpse into the hilarious and thrilling Battle of the Bands, where the Know-It-All Boyfriends face off against the Know-It-All Girlfriends, with the audience deciding the victor. Last year, the Know-It-All Girlfriends stole the show. Will they defend their title? Tune in and be part of this unique musical journey that makes a real difference!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Hey everybody, welcome to the Joey Song Podcast. I'm your host, mike Gamal. For those of you that are new to Joey Song, we're a 501c3 charity that raises money to fund research into treatments and cures for epilepsy. We also direct funds to support patient services and community programs as well. Our fundraising vehicle is music. Every year, we hold a series of concerts that feature Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, grammy winners and Top 40 hit makers. These amazing artists all come to Madison, wisconsin, each January for a festival that we call Freezing man. You should know that every one of the artists that plays at our event donates their time and talent. None of our performers take a penny to join us. We have no paid staff. We are a 100% volunteer organization. The next Freezing man is scheduled to take place January 8th through the 11th 2025, with six amazing shows scheduled over four days. To find out more about Joey's Song, you can find us at our website, joey'songorg, or follow us on social media, where all of our handles are at Joey's Song. Hey everybody, welcome to the Joey's Song podcast. I wanted to take a few minutes today to explain to you all what's going to happen on Saturday, january 11th, at the Big Show. As you've seen, joey Song has now expanded to almost a week-long festival we're calling Freezing man and you know we've got all these amazing bands that come every year Portugal, the man, vicki and Debbie from the Bangles, tanya and Gail from Belly Chris, from Fountains of Wayne and so on. Well, we wanted to expand the whole week and give those bands a chance to play full sets. So if you go to joysongorg you can see that between the Majestic and the Sylvie we got a bunch of band shows, regular straight up concerts to benefit Joey Song from Wednesday through to Friday.

Speaker 1: 2:04

But Saturday is still what it's always been, kind of an all-star jam. We're calling it the big show now and I wanted to just take a few minutes, if you haven't been, to help you understand what it is and why. It's a little bit different from anything else you've ever been to and certainly different from the shows during the week. So what we do basically, and how this evolved, is Butch and Duke and Freedy and Jay and Pi and the rest of the Know it All boyfriends kind of serve as a house band for all these amazing other artists. That's at least how it started, but now it's turned into just this all-star jam. You can go to joeysongorg and see all the amazing people besides the bands that are playing. We've got John Resnick from Goo Goo Dolls, jane Weedland from the Go-Go, steve Porcaro from Toto, all coming along with all those bands to play a big all-star jam on Saturday. I guess I refer to it as the world's greatest live jukebox right During the week. You'll have heard these bands play their hits. Now you're going to hear them maybe play each other's hits, play an oldie, goldie, a chestnut, some sort of rock classic song, but you're going to hear stuff you've never heard before. In combinations you've never heard before as well.

Speaker 1: 3:17

But the other thing I wanted to talk a little bit about is the battle of the bands. This has evolved over the last couple years where we have kind of a battle of the sexes. We use that term a little bit loosely, but it's a chance for the know-it-all boyfriends to go up against the know-it-all girlfriends to win the championship based upon audience applause. So how we do it is we set up a bunch of different categories at the beginning of the show that the bands know the categories but they don't know the songs they're going to play. So what we're able to do is we spin the wheel. It's up on the big screen so you can all see it. We spin the big wheel and, whatever the category is, then the boyfriends go against the girlfriends and then the audience decides who shows a better song and who had a better performance. Last year, I have to be honest with you, it wasn't really close. The Know it All Girlfriends blew the Know it All Boyfriends off the stage. It really wasn't even much of a battle. They walked away with the championship belt. This year, I think the KIAB have decided they need to step up their game just a little bit. So that's what you're going to see.

Speaker 1: 4:24

Let me give you some examples from past shows so you can kind of understand what I talk about. With an all-star jam, for example, two years ago we had Dave Perner and Soul Asylum with us as a cover. They did Take the Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven. So you had Dave Perner on lead vocals. You had Chris Collingwood from Fountains of Wayne on guitar. You had Butch Vig from Garbage on drums. You had Duke Erickson from Garbage on bass. Background singers were Gail Greenwood, tanya Donnelly, kay Hanley and Freedy Johnston.

Speaker 1: 4:56

Now, when are you ever going to see that combination again, those folks in that even if Dave Perner sings, take the Skinheads Bowling Again sometime, it's not going to be with that band, and the evening is full of those things, kind of these once-in-a-lifetime configurations of artists playing songs that you all know and love. There's other moments that are really special. A couple years ago we also had the Liberated Choral from Chicago come up, a gospel choir, and they sang a couple songs, and one of them was with our pal Corey Chisel. They sang Foreigners I Want to Know what Love Is and at the end it just went into this beautiful back and forth between Corey and one of the singers in the choral, going back and forth, hitting the notes. It was truly, truly, truly spectacular. So that's what the night is. It's a night of covers, a night of camaraderie and a night of amazing configurations of artists that you're never going to see.

Speaker 1: 5:54

The other thing I wanted to point out on the Saturday show is that's when we also have our famous auction, which features this year about 14 signed guitars. We've got stuff from Brad Paisley, we've got one from Jackson Brown, we've got guitar from Def Leppard, cheap Trick. It goes on and on and on. So I would suggest they're not up on the website yet, probably as you're hearing this, but a week or so before the show all of the items will be up on the website, the Joey Song website, so you can bid and you do not have to be present at the benefit to bid on and win those guitars. So that's really a brief overview for people that there's been some confusion, right, because you see, you know, thursday Portugal, the man's playing and your assumption is well then, they're going to head on out of town, but they're not. They're sticking around and they'll be a part of the Friday or the Saturday show as well. So that's kind of a really quick primer. If you have any other questions, please just reach out contact at joey songorg and one of the folks around here will answer whatever questions you have about who's performing. Can't tell you what songs they're performing, because that's kind of a Scooby-Doo mystery, but we can at least tell you who's going to be there.

Speaker 1: 7:04

Thanks for all your support of Joey song. I really, really appreciate it. You're helping us make a big difference. Thanks for joining us for the Joey Song Podcast. Remember to visit our website, joysongorg. Follow us on all our social media handles which are at Joey Song. We'll see you guys at the show.

Speaker 1: 7:32

Oh geez, sorry about the record scratch. Wait a minute. I forgot one thing. If you want to help us spread the word about Joey's song in our podcast, there's a few things you can do that are real simple that will help us. One of the things you can do is follow the show wherever you get your podcast, give us a five-star review I mean, why wouldn't you and write a review. All of these things help our podcast and our cause get more traction and seen throughout the community. And if you wanted to tell a few friends about Joey Song in the podcast, that would be great as well. And, of course, you can visit joeysongorg and follow us on social media. All of our handles are at Joey Song. Okay, I think that's it. We will see you guys at the show.