Milwaukee's Summerfest Goes To Eleven
July 1998 Eric Maloney with Doug Van Den Bosch contributing
"You can't please all the people all the time." - I think Abraham Lincoln said that "I am only one guy, I was at four of eleven days and I did not see every band at Summerfest - but I did see a lot. For one guy." - I said that For eleven days every summer, a million or so people flock to Milwaukee for Summerfest. Some are there for the food, and many for the beer. It is rumored that some are even there for the music. Located along the Lake Michigan shoreline, this festival to end all festivals offers great entertainment value for everybody - boat rides on Lake Michigan, carnival rides, live comedy, children's activities, athletic exhibits, international foods and beers, and of course live music. The daytime musical offerings are largely limited to cover bands and lesser known artists, a nice time to absorb the beauty of the Wisconsin summer and hear versions of familiar songs ranging from the totally uninspired to the uncannily delightful. As the sun goes down each day, the marquis artists take over and Summerfest becomes more about the music than anything else as bands of every genre play into the night on nine stages. If you can find a better deal for seven bucks a day, I expect a phone call... On opening night, Cowboy Mouth whipped its faithful crowd into a frenzy at the Leiney Lodeg stage (following a 90-minute lightning storm delay), and was joined on stage by Everything and Sister Hazel's guitarist. Hometown heroes the Bodeans rocked the Marcus Ampitheatre with the stellar support of Big Head Todd & the Monsters. Following the gargantuan opening night fireworks display, Sister Hazel drew a packed crowd of predominately female admirers, and a young couple got engaged right on stage during the set. Then the surprise came. There seemed to be a bad cover band headlining the Miller Oasis stage - odd, because the daytime was reserved for cover bands while major recording artists occupied the headlining slots. When I heard "Fly" soaring through the air I though, "Well, alright, Sugar Ray is here...," only to realize, "Oh, it's just a goofy, clumsy, soul-free white-boy cover band doing Sugar Ray and other mid-range hip-hop." The band proceeded to cover House of Pain and other similar material that is perhaps best left to faint memory. Covering War's "Why Can't We Be Friends" was rather unmotivated, as Smashmouth recently had a hit covering the same song. When the band covered Smashmouth's original single, "Walking On The Sun", I thought, "OK, nice play on the whole War-Smashmouth thing, sort of like doing 'You Can't Hurry Love' and then covering an early Phil Collins number." As the song progressed, it hit me: this IS Smashmouth! A disappointing set by a band that is apparently not gunning for any creativity or originality points. However, the typically post-and-pre-frat Summerfest crowd was digging it, so maybe it is I who am missing the point... The Sprecher-House of Blues stage offered Koko Taylor & Her Blues Machine...minus Koko Taylor. There was no mention of her absence, and in her place we got an hour-long instrumental jam from the formidable band. Keb Mo brought its traditional style blues to town, interacting with the audience and eliciting comparisons to Robert Johnson. Don't be fooled by the Lawrence Welk-ish bandstand appearance and Vegas luster: Brian Setzer & His Orchestra delivered a fine re-invention of rockabilly classics set to a big band ensemble and, wow, can that boy play that thang! The following week, thousands of tree-hugging, born-too-late-to-have-seen-the-Dead youths flocked to the Marcus Ampitheatre to see Widespread Panic groove and jam as one of the finest party bands in the land. If you close your eyes and imagine hard enough, you might even think you're at a Radiators show. Todd Snider & the Nervous Wrecks opened the Widespread show with some honest, down-home stoner rock that few had the pleasure of catching (MCA recently dropped this artist - smaller labels take notice!). Leftover Salmon followed with a rather uneventful set, and G-Love & Special Sauce played very well but was noticeably out of its element. G-Love grooved very well, but his show is best suited for a much smaller, much dingier venue and not the 15,000-capacity shed of Marcus. (Not to mention that beginning and ending each sentence with "yo" adds an unflattering Vanilla Ice feel. Imagine a clean cut and otherwise articulate white man from Philly saying, "Yo, thanks for comin' out tonight, yo," and, "Yo, this is one from our latest album, yo" - you get the picture). The Freddy Jones Band played its brand of solid Midwestern rock, structurally sound and pleasantly tight. Meanwhile, intestinal fortitude poured out of the P.A. system as Seven Mary Three let it all hang out. The pleasant surprise of the day was the June Victory blues band. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy received a great crowd response at the undersized Sprecher-House of Blues stage as it butchered "Minnie the Moocher" in a way that would make Calloway roll over in his grave. From any distance, BBVD comes off more as a goofball dress-up grade school talent show ensemble than a legitimate swing band. (File under Smashmouth - while the critic takes jabs at the artist's lack of anything artistically endearing, the artist is making money, fending off groupies, and playing to packed houses every night). REO Speedwagon played a retrospective show at the Harley Roadhouse stage and gave longtime fans what they wanted - thousands of people singing "Riding The Storm Out" - what a sight! It's actually refreshing when an old-timer band plays a sing-a-long greatest hits show instead of cramming unwanted "new stuff" down the throats of a casual and fun-seeking festival crowd. All the while, Chumbawamba sounded more like the Go Go's and bore strong resemblance not to the anarchist Brit-punk it recorded on 13 albums prior to becoming to becoming an American one-hit wonder, but more to the bubblegum pop that afforded the band its current meal ticket. (see also, Smashmouth and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy). The Atomic Fireballs brought its high-energy swing from Detroit and had festival-goers hoppin' despite the 95 degrees and 95% humidity of the day. Wilco delivered a rousing set featuring a lot of well-received new material and, far out of character of the standard single-encore festival performance, returned for three encores to the crowd it had already spent an hour getting fired up. Mojo Nixon and Dread Zeppelin each brought its respective novelty-based party rock, fine artists for any festival. The Summerfest finale was a memorable day. The weather was beautiful, the sky was clear, and the food and drink flowed just right. Hum opened up for the Smashing Pumpkins the Marcus Ampitheatre, whose set skewed heavily toward the newer, more serene material. Fan reaction was mixed. Sonia Dada played a funky and soulful set before the Ramsey Lewis Trio smoothed things out with its piano-oriented jazz. Finally, the Mighty Blue Kings put a proper exclamation point on the 11-day festival with a 90-minute set of jump blues and jazz that had thousands jumping, dancing, and singing along. The diverse offerings of Summerfest make it the consummate summer festival. Rock & Roll? Got it. Blues, Jazz? Got it. Pop? Got that too. Heavy Metal? Sure. Disco? If that's what you dig, they've got that too. The abundance of music overwhelming you? Sit by the lake and enjoy the beautiful view. Don't like American beer? Have some German. Don't like beer? Try some vino. Not a drinker? Enjoy some fine gourmet root beer. Thin pizza, stuffed pizza, Mexican, Polish, German cuisine... Can't get a sitter for the kids? Bring them along, they'll love the Piggly Wiggly stage and carnival rides - cotton candy and lemonade around the horn! Need a good laugh? Check out some live comedy, Pat McCurdy will find your funny bone if you've got one. Need to get off your feet? Sit in the stands and watch the Milwauke Bucks Cheerleaders in action - that should do the trick. All things considered, that's a LOT of entertainment. Especially for seven bucks.
Any comments about Eric's review, you can contact him at ermaloney@aol.com.
