Gig roundup: U2Zoo hits the silver screen

After making inroads throughout the upper Midwest as a tribute to Dublin's finest, Milwaukee's U2Zoo is now the subject of a 30-minute documentary.

"Shine Like Stars," directed by Dustin Leimgruber, debuted on St. Patrick's Day at the Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison.

Leimgruber, who also co-produced the film, is an Ohio native -- raised in Wisconsin -- who currently lives in Los Angeles. His co-producer, Alan Hagemann, is an MSOE grad still based in the Milwaukee area.

The film mixes interviews with the members of U2Zoo -- veteran local musicians guitarist and founder Brian Lang, singer Scott Neis, bassist Mike Kawczynski and drummer Craig Brog -- with footage from gigs by the band at Summerfest and other Milwaukee area venues.

"The film is great," says Lang. "It's a real representation of our personalities and the history and what's valued musically and emotionally inside the band. It strips U2Zoo down to the sheer basics and he captured all of this without a script or anything from the interviews to the live footage."

What's especially eye-opening about the film -- especially to an original music-biased listener like myself -- is the quartet's passion for what it does and the seriousness with which it approaches the music.

But the group -- which stresses its not attempting to be a look-alike act ("Every time I put on the sunglasses, I think the nose and mustache is right around the corner," jokes Neis) -- tempers that with a sense of humor, too, and it's that sense of humor that keeps the band grounded and far from the shores of inflated self-importance. And it's endearing, too.

And, if you haven't seen the band, know that U2Zoo does a pretty darn good U2, with Lang especially excelling at recreating the complex sonics and distinctive style of U2 guitarist The Edge. Lang clearly gets that the key to nailing U2 is nailing The Edge.

In the film, we learn that Lang started the band on a whim the night he saw Bono at a bar and exchanged an across-the-room "cheers" after sending over a pint.

We learn that all four members long ago set aside their rock and roll dreams to build lives and careers. The success they've found as tribute band musicians -- the band plays for huge crowds at festivals and couples even get engaged at the band's performances -- allows them to be, in the words of Kawczynski's wife, "weekend rock stars."

And they're more than fine with that.

"The producer approached us in 2008 about following us for a year and we gave him the go ahead with no expectations," says Lang. "It's turned into a circus of fun and the idea of touring the country and world has turned into a reality on screen."

While Neis describes the band as "U2 fans playing U2 music for U2 fans," Lang quips, "We're just a bunch of dorky guys from Milwaukee playing U2."

Good for them.