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!

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Support the show

Visit www.joeyssong.org to learn more about Joey's Song and the work we do and get details on our next set of shows. Also be sure to follow us on all popular social media platforms with our handle @joeyssong

Joey's Song is a federally registered 501(c)3 charity that raises money to fund research into treatments and cures for epilepsy. Joey's Song is 100% volunteer with no paid staff, so we are able to convert more dollars into life saving research.

Our Joey's Song family of artists include Rock N Roll Hall of Famers, Grammy and Emmy winners and Top 40 hitmakers.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey everybody, welcome to the Joey Song Podcast
.
I'm your host, mike Gamal.
For those of you that are newto Joey Song, we're a 501c3
charity that raises money tofund research into treatments
and cures for epilepsy.
We also direct funds to supportpatient services and community
programs as well.
Our fundraising vehicle ismusic.
Every year, we hold a series ofconcerts that feature Rock and

(00:30):
Roll Hall of Famers, grammywinners and Top 40 hit makers.
These amazing artists all cometo Madison, wisconsin, each
January for a festival that wecall Freezing man.
You should know that every oneof the artists that plays at our
event donates their time andtalent.
None of our performers take apenny to join us.
We have no paid staff.
We are a 100% volunteerorganization.

(00:52):
The next Freezing man isscheduled to take place January
8th through the 11th 2025, withsix amazing shows scheduled over
four days.
To find out more about Joey'sSong, you can find us at our
website, joey'songorg, or followus on social media, where all
of our handles are at Joey'sSong.
Hey everybody, welcome to theJoey's Song podcast.

(01:21):
I wanted to take a few minutestoday to explain to you all
what's going to happen onSaturday, january 11th, at the
Big Show.
As you've seen, joey Song hasnow expanded to almost a
week-long festival we're callingFreezing man and you know we've
got all these amazing bandsthat come every year Portugal,
the man, vicki and Debbie fromthe Bangles, tanya and Gail from

(01:43):
Belly Chris, from Fountains ofWayne and so on.
Well, we wanted to expand thewhole week and give those bands
a chance to play full sets.
So if you go to joysongorg youcan see that between the
Majestic and the Sylvie we got abunch of band shows, regular
straight up concerts to benefitJoey Song from Wednesday through
to Friday.

(02:04):
But Saturday is still what it'salways been, kind of an all-star
jam.
We're calling it the big shownow 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 differentfrom anything else you've ever
been to and certainly differentfrom the shows during the week.
So what we do basically, andhow this evolved, is Butch and

(02:26):
Duke and Freedy and Jay and Piand the rest of the Know it All
boyfriends kind of serve as ahouse 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 andsee all the amazing people
besides the bands that areplaying.
We've got John Resnick from GooGoo Dolls, jane Weedland from

(02:49):
the Go-Go, steve Porcaro fromToto, all coming along with all
those bands to play a bigall-star jam on Saturday.
I guess I refer to it as theworld's greatest live jukebox
right During the week.
You'll have heard these bandsplay their hits.
Now you're going to hear themmaybe play each other's hits,
play an oldie, goldie, achestnut, some sort of rock

(03:14):
classic song, but you're goingto hear stuff you've never heard
before.
In combinations you've neverheard before as well.
But the other thing I wanted totalk a little bit about is the
battle of the bands.
This has evolved over the lastcouple years where we have kind
of a battle of the sexes.
We use that term a little bitloosely, but it's a chance for
the know-it-all boyfriends to goup against the know-it-all
girlfriends to win thechampionship based upon audience

(03:37):
applause.
So how we do it is we set up abunch of different categories at
the beginning of the show thatthe bands know the categories
but they don't know the songsthey're going to play.
So what we're able to do is wespin the wheel.
It's up on the big screen soyou can all see it.
We spin the big wheel and,whatever the category is, then
the boyfriends go against thegirlfriends and then the

(03:59):
audience decides who shows abetter song and who had a better
performance.
Last year, I have to be honestwith you, it wasn't really close
.
The Know it All Girlfriendsblew the Know it All Boyfriends
off the stage.
It really wasn't even much of abattle.
They walked away with thechampionship belt.
This year, I think the KIABhave decided they need to step

(04:20):
up their game just a little bit.
So that's what you're going tosee.
Let me give you some examplesfrom past shows so you can kind
of understand what I talk about.
With an all-star jam, forexample, two years ago we had
Dave Perner and Soul Asylum withus as a cover.
They did Take the SkinheadsBowling by Camper Van Beethoven.
So you had Dave Perner on leadvocals.

(04:41):
You had Chris Collingwood fromFountains of Wayne on guitar.
You had Butch Vig from Garbageon drums.
You had Duke Erickson fromGarbage on bass.
Background singers were GailGreenwood, tanya Donnelly, kay
Hanley and Freedy Johnston.
Now, when are you ever going tosee that combination again,
those folks in that even if DavePerner sings, take the

(05:03):
Skinheads Bowling Again sometime, it's not going to be with that
band, and the evening is fullof those things, kind of these
once-in-a-lifetimeconfigurations of artists
playing songs that you all knowand love.
There's other moments that arereally special.
A couple years ago we also hadthe Liberated Choral from
Chicago come up, a gospel choir,and they sang a couple songs,

(05:26):
and one of them was with our palCorey Chisel.
They sang Foreigners I Want toKnow what Love Is and at the end
it just went into thisbeautiful back and forth between
Corey and one of the singers inthe choral, going back and
forth, hitting the notes.
It was truly, truly, trulyspectacular.
So that's what the night is.

(05:47):
It's a night of covers, a nightof camaraderie and a night of
amazing configurations ofartists that you're never going
to see.
The other thing I wanted topoint out on the Saturday show
is that's when we also have ourfamous auction, which features
this year about 14 signedguitars.
We've got stuff from BradPaisley, we've got one from

(06:07):
Jackson Brown, we've got guitarfrom Def Leppard, cheap Trick.
It goes on and on and on.
So I would suggest they're notup on the website yet, probably
as you're hearing this, but aweek or so before the show all
of the items will be up on thewebsite, the Joey Song website,
so you can bid and you do nothave to be present at the
benefit to bid on and win thoseguitars.

(06:30):
So that's really a briefoverview for people that there's
been some confusion, right,because you see, you know,
thursday Portugal, the man'splaying and your assumption is
well then, they're going to headon out of town, but they're not
.
They're sticking around andthey'll be a part of the Friday
or the Saturday show as well.
So that's kind of a reallyquick primer.
If you have any other questions, please just reach out contact

(06:51):
at joey songorg and one of thefolks around here will answer
whatever questions you haveabout who's performing.
Can't tell you what songsthey're performing, because
that's kind of a Scooby-Doomystery, but we can at least
tell you who's going to be there.
Thanks for all your support ofJoey song.
I really, really appreciate it.
You're helping us make a bigdifference.
Thanks for joining us for theJoey Song Podcast.

(07:20):
Remember to visit our website,joysongorg.
Follow us on all our socialmedia handles which are at Joey
Song.
We'll see you guys at the show.
Oh geez, sorry about the recordscratch.
Wait a minute.
I forgot one thing.
If you want to help us spreadthe word about Joey's song in
our podcast, there's a fewthings you can do that are real

(07:42):
simple that will help us.
One of the things you can do isfollow the show wherever you
get your podcast, give us afive-star review I mean, why
wouldn't you and write a review.
All of these things help ourpodcast and our cause get more
traction and seen throughout thecommunity.
And if you wanted to tell a fewfriends about Joey Song in the

(08:03):
podcast, that would be great aswell.
And, of course, you can visitjoeysongorg and follow us on
social media.
All of our handles are at JoeySong.
Okay, I think that's it.
We will see you guys at theshow.