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 thinkAbraham Lincoln said that "I am only one guy, I was at four of eleven days and I didnot see every band at Summerfest - but I did see a lot. For one guy." - I saidthat For eleven days every summer, a million or so people flock to Milwaukee forSummerfest. Some are there for the food, and many for the beer. It isrumored 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 - boatrides on Lake Michigan, carnival rides, live comedy, children's activities, athleticexhibits, international foods and beers, and of course live music. The daytimemusical offerings are largely limited to cover bands and lesser known artists, a nice timeto absorb the beauty of the Wisconsin summer and hear versions of familiar songs rangingfrom the totally uninspired to the uncannily delightful. As the sun goes down eachday, the marquis artists take over and Summerfest becomes more about the music thananything else as bands of every genre play into the night on nine stages. If you canfind 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 (followinga 90-minute lightning storm delay), and was joined on stage by Everything and SisterHazel's guitarist. Hometown heroes the Bodeans rocked the Marcus Ampitheatre withthe stellar support of Big Head Todd & the Monsters. Following thegargantuan opening night fireworks display, Sister Hazel drew a packed crowd ofpredominately female admirers, and a young couple got engaged right on stage during theset. Then the surprise came. There seemed to be a bad cover band headlining theMiller Oasis stage - odd, because the daytime was reserved for cover bands while majorrecording artists occupied the headlining slots. When I heard "Fly"soaring through the air I though, "Well, alright, Sugar Ray is here...," only torealize, "Oh, it's just a goofy, clumsy, soul-free white-boy cover band doing SugarRay and other mid-range hip-hop." The band proceeded to cover House of Pain andother similar material that is perhaps best left to faint memory. CoveringWar's "Why Can't We Be Friends" was rather unmotivated, as Smashmouth recentlyhad 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-Smashmouththing, sort of like doing 'You Can't Hurry Love' and then covering an early Phil Collinsnumber." As the song progressed, it hit me: this IS Smashmouth! Adisappointing set by a band that is apparently not gunning for any creativity ororiginality points. However, the typically post-and-pre-frat Summerfest crowd wasdigging it, so maybe it is I who am missing the point... The Sprecher-House of Blues stageoffered Koko Taylor & Her Blues Machine...minus Koko Taylor. There was nomention of her absence, and in her place we got an hour-long instrumental jam from theformidable band. Keb Mo brought its traditional style blues to town, interacting with theaudience and eliciting comparisons to Robert Johnson. Don't be fooled by theLawrence Welk-ish bandstand appearance and Vegas luster: Brian Setzer & His Orchestradelivered 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 seeWidespread Panic groove and jam as one of the finest party bands in the land. If youclose 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 thisartist - smaller labels take notice!). Leftover Salmon followed with a ratheruneventful set, and G-Love & Special Sauce played very well but was noticeably out ofits 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 mentionthat beginning and ending each sentence with "yo" adds an unflattering VanillaIce 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 ourlatest album, yo" - you get the picture). The Freddy Jones Band played itsbrand 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 allhang out. The pleasant surprise of the day was the June Victory blues band. Big BadVoodoo Daddy received a great crowd response at the undersized Sprecher-House of Bluesstage as it butchered "Minnie the Moocher" in a way that would make Callowayroll over in his grave. From any distance, BBVD comes off more as a goofballdress-up grade school talent show ensemble than a legitimate swing band. (Fileunder Smashmouth - while the critic takes jabs at the artist's lack of anythingartistically endearing, the artist is making money, fending off groupies, and playing topacked houses every night). REO Speedwagon played a retrospective show at the HarleyRoadhouse stage and gave longtime fans what they wanted - thousands of people singing"Riding The Storm Out" - what a sight! It's actually refreshing when anold-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 strongresemblance not to the anarchist Brit-punk it recorded on 13 albums prior to becoming tobecoming an American one-hit wonder, but more to the bubblegum pop that afforded the bandits current meal ticket. (see also, Smashmouth and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy). TheAtomic 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 setfeaturing a lot of well-received new material and, far out of character of the standardsingle-encore festival performance, returned for three encores to the crowd it had alreadyspent an hour getting fired up. Mojo Nixon and Dread Zeppelin each brought itsrespective novelty-based party rock, fine artists for any festival. The Summerfest finalewas a memorable day. The weather was beautiful, the sky was clear, and the food anddrink flowed just right. Hum opened up for the Smashing Pumpkins the MarcusAmpitheatre, whose set skewed heavily toward the newer, more serene material. Fanreaction was mixed. Sonia Dada played a funky and soulful set before the RamseyLewis Trio smoothed things out with its piano-oriented jazz. Finally, theMighty Blue Kings put a proper exclamation point on the 11-day festival with a 90-minuteset of jump blues and jazz that had thousands jumping, dancing, and singing along. Thediverse 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'vegot that too. The abundance of music overwhelming you? Sit by the lake andenjoy the beautiful view. Don't like American beer? Have some German. Don't like beer? Try some vino. Not a drinker? Enjoy some finegourmet 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 PigglyWiggly stage and carnival rides - cotton candy and lemonade around the horn! Need agood laugh? Check out some live comedy, Pat McCurdy will find your funny boneif you've got one. Need to get off your feet? Sit in the stands and watch theMilwauke Bucks Cheerleaders in action - that should do the trick. All thingsconsidered, that's a LOT of entertainment. Especially for seven bucks.
Any comments about Eric's review, you can contact him at ermaloney@aol.com.
