The following excerpt is from We Had Fun and Nobody Died: Adventures of a Milwaukee Music Promoter, released this summer by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. This biography tells the story of Peter Jest, the stubbornly independent promoter and owner of Shank Hall, a music venue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Detailing Peter’s lasting friendships with John Prine, Arlo Guthrie, and Milwaukee’s own Violent Femmes, this nostalgia-inducing book offers a backstage pass to the seldom-seen world of music promotion. This selection looks at his work with the Alternative Concert Group, the student-run venture started by Peter when he was a student at UW–Milwaukee that marked his start in bringing bands to the stage.
Iggy Pop was one act that Peter Jest had been keeping his eye on. In 1988, Peter learned that Iggy would play a series of Midwestern dates on his tour. A fan since Iggy’s mid-1970s collaborations with David Bowie, Peter didn’t have
