That time is here once again for Chicagoans to make their annual pilgrimage to Milwaukee for their 11 day music festival known as Summerfest. Summerfest has a daily dose of multi-musical genres with food and drinks to satisfy anyone’s hearty appetite. In the past, Summerfest has showcased such big musical talents like Bob Dylan, Nine Inch Nails, Tina Turner, Pearl Jam and Britney Spears to name a few. This year the festival has once again brought the big names to help make Summerfest one of the top musical festivals of the year.
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Summerfest
|  Entertainment
Art
June 26, 2008 – July 6, 2008
Milwaukee, WI
www.summerfest.com
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Summerfest is located at the 75-acre Henry Maier Festival Park along the Milwaukee lakefront and has been around since the mid-70s. Summerfest is even listed as The World’s Largest Music Festival in the Guinness World Records since 1999. The festival through the years has showcased local acts as well as the big major acts from all over the world. These live acts are showcased on 12 individual stages and are all free with the admission ticket, expect for the headliner acts at the Marcus Amphitheater. However if you arrive early enough, you can receive free lawn tickets for these shows as well.
This year Summerfest is bringing some of the must see acts of the summer. Opening up the festival you have Stevie Wonder at the Marcus Amphitheater. If that’s not enough you can swing over to see Eric Burdon and the Animals at 6PM and Gnarls Barkley at 11 PM at the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage, or LeAnn Rhimes at the Miller Oasis Stage at 9 PM, or even pick Cowboy Mouth at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino Stage & Pavilion at 11 PM. Now keep in mind, this is just day one, we still have 10 days to go!
This year the main stage is bringing some of the biggest names like Rush, John Mellencamp, Lucinda Williams, Steve Miller Band, Joe Cocker, Alicia Keys, Stone Temple Pilots, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, John Mayer and the Jonas Brothers. But that’s just the half of it, the other stages like Miller Lite Oasis, Harley-Davidson Roadhouse and the Zippo Rock Stage are bringing their own big names to give you some alternative options as well.
The Harley-Davidson Roadhouse stage is offering up bands like Dashboard Confessional on the 28th, O.A.R. on the 1st of July, The Crystal Method on the 2nd, Alejandro Escovedo and Lucinda Williams on the 3rd, and Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Review on the 6th. Not a bad line-up for this stage.
Nearby on the Miller Lite Oasis stage we have quite a few options like Jack’s Mannequin on the 29th, Matisyahu on the 30th, Cohhed & Cambria on July 2nd, The Roots on the 4th, and 311 on the 6th.
U.S. Cellular Connection Stage offers up some eclectic bands like The Polyphonic Spree on the 29th, Paramore on the 30th, Filter on the 1st, Plain White T’s on the 3rd, Cracker on the 5th, and The Bravery on the 6th.
Potawatomi Bingo Casino Stage brings the old and the new with The Wailers on the 3rd and Jacob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels on the 6th. The Zippo Rock Stage has Old 97’s on the 28th, Michael McDermott, Ingrid Michaelson and Gomez on the 3rd of July, with Mickey Hart Band closing it out on the 6th.
The one other stage that stands out to me is the M&I Classic Rock Stage. This year they are bringing legendary acts like Blondie on the 28th, A tribute to James Brown featuring Bootsy Collins on the 30th, Pat Benatar on the 1st of July, Cheap Trick on the 5th and Earth Wind & Fire on the 6th.
So there you have it, Summerfest is not just a summer ritual but a requirement. Every day has bands that will satisfy everyone’s musical palette. If I was only going to pick one or two days I would have to go with the one two punch of the 4th and 5th of July. With STP on the 4th and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on the 5th, it seems like a perfect way to satisfy my Summerfest fix. So do yourself a favor and checkout their daily schedule’s and figure out what days work for you.
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