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Angelo's Piano Bar
3 reviews for Angelo's Piano Bar
For the most part, this place lines up very well with my sensibilities. It's kind of kitschy. Kind of campy. Kind of strange. But it's a real pleasure. Once you kind of settle in to the place it's an amazing experience. Theatrical and cinematic.
I'd been told many things about the place: that it was like something out of a David Lynch movie (which it is, minus the sinister aspect, plus Milwaukee accents. Think Twin Peaks meets an anachronistic Milwaukee.), that it was somewhere you needed to see once but that you wouldn't really want to go back (I totally disagree. I would love to go back!), that it was full of coke heads and weirdos (I thought some of the people were kind of bizarre but it hardly seemed as seedy as I'd heard. In fact, it mostly seemed like a lot of very elderly couples out for a wild night!)...
We got there just as the show started. At first, I was a little unsure of the whole thing, like, "What in THE heck am I in for now?" But this unique and charming and sorta strange woman came out to the keyboard and made a little introduction and launched into this show that included periodic accompaniment by a trumpeter. After the initial feeling of uncertainty though I felt kind of carried away in the rush of it all. When she swung into "Bye Bye Blackbird" I was just about beside myself with glee. It was like she was working an enchantment on a five dollar bill in my pocket that propelled me right up to the tip jar.
Fabulously strange. I can't wait to go back.
This place is the real deal, hard to come by in a world saturated with hipper-than-thou irony. An intimate piano joint, you can sit at the bar or one of the few tables in the corner, listening to Angelo or one of his many guests croon away. Of course no one expects you to "hush" while they're onstage -- Angelo's is pretty lively. There's drinking going on in addition to singing --and not an ounce of pretense. I once ordered a salty dog, and was looked at crossed-eyed until I corrected myself: vodka & grapefruit? You bet.
Angelo's is the coolest, swingingest, realest piano bar in Milwaukee and maybe the world. Step into Angelo's zone and you will be treated to an intimate Italian bar frequented by old timers and youngsters alike. Angelo is the owner and he does most of the singing. He's an older Italian-American gentlemen with a penchant for Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. In fact, there are autographed photos all over the walls of Angelo standing next to these and other legends of song. Alas, ol' Blue Eyes is no longer with us, but his spirit lives on in Angelo and his magical piano bar. When Angelo grabs the mike with drink in hand and lays out "That's Why the Lady is a Tramp" to live piano accompaniment, you feel it. The crowd feels it. And, most importantly, Angelo feels it. He's lived the life and it shows through his singing. This is a place that needs to be seen to be believed. It's not just a bar, it's an experience.
