Gophers and Cheese

The Pre-Party for Mama Tried and Flat Out Friday kicked off Thursday at the Harley-Davidson Museum with Boonie Bike racing.  Thanks to the announcer and the guys running the event, it was also like attending a stand-up comedy show.  It was really fun to watch.

2017 was the 3rd year in a row I attended the Mama Tried Motorcycle Show .  Like the previous year, I had a lot of photos and a write-up included as a feature on ChopCult . Those old features are no longer available on ChopCult and, even when they were, they only included a small portion of the photos I took.  Since Mama Tried 2024 is only a few short days away, it's time for a look back to 2017 to help the time pass.

The Mama Tried Motorcycle Show 2024 is only a few days away but Mama Tried 2016 coverage continues right here.  We'll start with the Mama Tried Pre-Party at the Harley-Davidson Museum on Friday night.

I was on a family road trip just over a week ago and we went to Wisconsin Dells and Chicago.  In between, we drove through Milwaukee and I wanted to stop by the Harley Davidson Museum and see their latest exhibit about the Mama Tried Show because I knew some people with bikes and other things on display.  Even though I haven't attended the show in a few years, Mama Tried and Flat Out Friday are awesome (see all my past blog posts about it here ).

Mama Tried and Flat Out Friday is this coming weekend (2/15-2/17/2019) in Milwaukee, WI.  I guess it's about time I post photos from last year.  I had a blast (as usual) and took literally thousands of photos.  Unfortunately, I can't attend the show this year but I had lots of fun looking through the pics from last year.  You can look forward to seeing a few hundred posted here over the next few days starting... now. I took the following photos at the Mama Tried bike night at the Harley-Davidson Museum Thursday night before the races and show began.

Trouble was the headlining band at the Mama Tried pre-party at the Harley-Davidson Museum .  I'll be honest, I was really excited to see Mount Salem but I had no idea who Trouble was.  Well, shame on me.  It's embarrassing really.  If you don't know Trouble, learn a little bit about the band's history here , and then go start buying their albums (I just started with their self-titled album and will probably pick up Psalm 9 next).  They are one of the earliest doom metal bands dating all the way back to 1979.  They rocked and it was a great way to get an education. Check out bassist Bobby Good Times in a Heavy t-shirt. Here's a bunch of photos from their set: I took some video when they decided to pay tribute to Black Sabbath and cover their song "Supernaut".  Some guy decided to stage dive into the crowd and took out an innocent bystander very close to me. I'm not sure if that was th...

The Mama Tried pre-party was mostly about the music but there were a few bikes on display too such as this Sposrtster. The red, white, and blue back-lighting made for some very cool photos but, for better or worse, it makes seeing any detail on the bikes nearly impossible. The venue was cool.  It's called "The Garage".  I think the museum uses it for all sorts of events, not just concerts. There were a lot of people there and I ran into a bunch of people I knew.  It was also fun to see two photographers that I admire, Josh Kurpius and Mikey Arnold (aka Mikey Revolt), busy taking photos. Photos of Trouble are up next!

I am very glad that I bought my ticket for the Mama Tried pre-party in advance as they sold out a few days before.  The ticket also included admission to the museum so, for $10, it was a bargain.  The pre-party featured live music from Mount Salem and Trouble .  Mount Salem was up first. Hopefully obvious by the photos, I was standing next to the stage nearly the whole time.  This is a shot looking back at the crowd: STAGE DIVE!!! More Mount Salem pics: Mount Salem rocked.  Bikes at the pre-party are up next, followed by Trouble.