The End of Summerfest 2010

Final Summerfest Thoughts / Recommendations

(Hans the Usinger Mascot waves goodbye to the end of Summerfest 2010)

I realize it’s nearing the end of July already, and I’m still blogging about Summerfest. I’m well over 2 weeks behind on things I have to say, so if you don’t want to read this, move on to the next blog I wrote . Were going to combine 2 Summerfest blogs into one to move things along.

As Summerfest 2010 drew to a close earlier this month I couldn’t help but notice the huge smile on my face. Summerfest has accomplished their goal again of bringing quality entertainment to the City of Milwaukee for an affordable price! With this they should be commended. Sure I didn’t go a few days that I would have liked to, but that’s not their fault. Sales were up, attendance was up (Though I went 2 less days than usual, and spent less than usual go figure lol). One has to wonder what’s in store for Summerfest 2011 June 23rd-July 3rd or June 30th – July 10th, but bank on it being June 23rd.

I really have only a few recommendations for Summerfest. Keep doing what you have been doing the last few years for music acts! There has been a lot of diversity in the music offered, and has not been all one specific era. Keep a close eye on the tours that are near Chicago again like the Eric Clapton’s crossroad tours. That seemed to work for a lot of the bands on that tour, to where it was a short drive up to Milwaukee for them. Bring back bands that are not only crowd favorites, but bands that actually want to play at Summerfest such as The Offspring. The Offspring have been to Summerfest 2years in a row now and not only has the crowd gotten larger every time, the band themselves love coming to Summerfest! It’s a win win. I noticed a few more “Local eateries” this year at Summerfest this year, and a few chain places were gone. Great job, as a lot of people enjoy the tastes and flavors of local restaurants, and not a chain place we can eat at any day of the week. Finally, if your schedule is June 30th – July 3rd, why not offer July 4th as an extra day for Summerfest. Make it free admission from noon – 5, offer some roll back prices like you do for Children’s Fest, and maybe feature local acts that day. Since most people will be in town that day anyways, it might be a good opportunity to make some extra money.

I’m learning that I’m getting too old to be able to getup at 5:30am, travel 45minutes to Watertown, get home around 6pm, and enjoy Summerfest till midnight is just not that doable anymore. I think I have to either take vacation next year, or ask work to move me to the Milwaukee office during the duration of Summerfest. That would make it so much easier, and I can drink more. LOL

I mean no one was terrible this year so its hard to place some above others but I had to make an order of my favorite to least favorite : Eric Clapton, The Offspring, Weird Al Yankovic, Skillet (Last couple of songs), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, ZZtop, and Jeff Beck (Sorry I need lyrics).

I wish I could’ve seen the entire set of Skillet but I was at Tom Petty. If you read my Summerfest Day 2 blog, you would understand why of Skillet. I missed Nonpoint which was a drag, The Scorpions Farewell tour (YouTube vids they sounded bad), and Rush. Oh well next time right.

More than Just Headliner Acts!

This year I was able to spend a few hours by myself at Summerfest enjoying the other things Summerfest has to offer. Though at times it was rather boring I paid closer attention to a lot to the street acts that Summerfest offers on the grounds. There’s a couple of Refugee Camp tents setup along the lakefront (Thus why the Goths were missing this year) that offered some different tastes in music, if you were looking to avoid the cover bands who play the same top40 songs, endless 80s tunes, etc. There were also some African American drummers that let you play the drums with them for a dollar, and explained some African American culture.

There was a group of guys who you could consider to be “eco friendly” drummers that were the talk of the fest. They took 5 gallon pails from one of the restaurants and some drumsticks and turned it into an awesome walking / dancing beat. They seemed to be everywhere around Summerfest this year, outside of the main entrance, inside the grounds, along the lakefront. I joked with one of them if they were going to open up at the Marcus this year for anyone. He laughed and said were not there just yet, our goal is to be on a side stage next year! Heck, I’m sure they made a killing with all the money people were giving them on all 11days (Best of all it was tax free, no agents, or handling fees).

Finally the other small group of artist at Summerfest has to be one of my favorites. They are an Andean band called Ecuador Manta (http://www.ecuadormanta.com/). Every year that I have gone to Summerfest, these guys have played on the street in the same exact spot. When they repaved that side of the grounds, they raised up part of the street to form a small stage for them and put a tent over it. I remember when I was younger; these guys had a stage that was made out of a chalk circle! The music is so soothing and relaxing that for the first time in years I actually watched these guys do about a half hour set. It was fun watching people dance to the music, and just all out have a good time. To this I say THANK YOU and its fun seeing you guys here every year!

(Ecuador Manta's performance, I also have a short Yotube Clip of them as well)

If you’ve gone to Summerfest you probably have walked by these groups of people hundreds of times and never listened to any of them. I encourage you do next year, as today’s street acts could be on their way to something bigger and better. Lots of small bands’ careers started at Summerfest (To name a few: Creed, Shinedown, etc).