Summerfest Preview

WELCOME BACK Summerfesł

THEY CALL IT “THE WORLD’S BIGGEST MUSIC FESTIVAL” AND IT’S BACK—IN A DIFFERENT TIME SLOT BUT WITH THE USUAL CROSS-SECTION OF POP, ROCK, HIP-HOP AND MORE. NATIONAL ACTS HAPPY TO BE ON THE ROAD AGAIN ARE JOINED BY MILWAUKEE BANDS LOOKING FOR THEIR BIG GIG ON THE LAKEFRONT. FOR MORE ON SUMMERFEST, VISIT SHEPHERDEXPRESS.COM.

SEPTEMBER 1

HELLA MEGA TOUR

5:30 p.m., American Family Insurance Amphitheater

BY ALLEN HALAS

Summerfest 2021 is set to open with an alternative rock explosion with the first of three “Wednesday Weekend Kick Off” concerts taking place before each weekend of the festival. Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer will bring the Hella Mega Tour to the American Family Insurance Amphitheater, which was originally set to take place in 2020, albeit skipping Milwaukee. The tour is the first time that all three bands have shared the same stage.

The material is certainly enough to test the foundation of the newly revamped amphitheater. Each band has a litany of radio hits over the past three decades, all three have made Milwaukee a regular tour stop in their careers. Fall Out Boy have played everywhere from Shorewood Legion Hall to the Bradley Center in a 20-year span, and Weezer have a pair of Summerfest appearances under their belt as well. Green Day, however, has not played Milwaukee in 17 years, with their last appearance coming in 2004 at UWM Panther Arena, supporting their American Idiot album that reintroduced the band to a new generation of listeners. While each of the acts have grown to stadium status from their live shows, none of the bands have slowed down in terms of putting out new music. Green Day and Weezer both have a pair of releases out in 2020 and 2021 respectively and Fall Out Boy’s Mania made waves when it was released in 2018, followed by a greatest hits compilation in 2019. With a name like the Hella Mega Tour, and a new and improved American Family Insurance Amphitheater, fans can certainly expect a spectacle from the pop punk powerhouses.

Photos courtesy of Summerfest.

SEPTEMBER 2

BLACKBERRY SMOKE

10:00 p.m., Uline Warehouse Stage

BY JOSHUA M. MILLER

Georgia rockers Blackberry Smoke have a strong affinity to Southern rock and their native Georgia. For the last 20 years, they’ve always sought to honor these roots and continue to add their own spin to the genre. It’s a lesson that continues on the band’s latest album You Hear Georgia, produced by Dave Cobb.

“I loved the songs, the playing, the freedom that those bands enjoyed musically,” says singer Charlie Starr of his love for Southern rock. “They could play blues and jazz and Gospel and country music. They could touch on it all, and they weren't tied down to one particular musical idea.”

He’s proud to be in the same state that produced “timeless music” from soul greats like Little Richard, James Brown, Ray Charles; blues legends like Blind Willie McTell, Barbecue Bob, Curley Weaver; and more modern performers such as The Allman Brothers Band, The Georgia Satellites, The Black Crowes and R.E.M. “It’s all over the place, but Georgia is really home to so much great music,” Starr says. On the title track, Starr wanted to clear up misconceptions people have about the South and its people and culture. “It’s basically saying, don't judge a book by its cover,” he says. “You can't ever assume something about someone without knowing them. You can’t look at somebody and judge them by how they look or how they speak.”

He looks for inspiration for lyrics from anything from modern day to Biblical stories. “I think anything that can or will inspire you can put the wheels in motion,” he says. “Religion is definitely oftentimes inspiring to me, growing up in the Baptist church in the South. And there's a lot of imagery there that's really powerful.”

SEPTEMBER 3

LEON BRIDGES

9:30 p.m., BMO Harris Pavilion

BY MICHAEL POPKE

Leon Bridges, the 32-year-old purveyor of neo-soul and R&B, began his career playing as many open-mic nights as possible until he attracted the attention of Columbia Records—home of such classic genre forebearers as Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Isaac Hayes.

Beginning with 2015’s Coming Home followed by 2018’s Good Thing, Bridges built a broad audience and was described by one critic as a “throwback to ‘60s-soul a la Otis Redding and Sam Cooke.” Both albums were nominated for a “Best R&B Album” Grammy, and the single “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand” won “Best Traditional R&B Performance.”

In July, he released his third studio album, Gold-Diggers Sound, a record with roots in all-night jam sessions at the Los Angeles studio on Santa Monica Boulevard that inspired the album’s title.

“There’re multiple ways of how I approach songwriting,” Bridges told Fort Worth Magazine, which covers the city in which the singer-songwriter grew up. “I’m constantly fiddling on guitar, and a lot of the times, those songs never see the light of day. And then there are moments, specifically during the Gold-Diggers process, where a lot of these songs are collaborative. There are musicians in the room who start improvisational jams. … [T]he melody or rhythm that’s going on initially, that’s what dictates the concept for me.”

Between Good Thing and Gold-Diggers Sound, Bridges recorded an EP with the Texas instrumental trio Khruangbin titled Texas Sun, which mixed rock, funk, soul, Americana and psychedelic influences.

He also cut the anti-racism single, “Sweeter,” with hiphop artist Terrace Martin in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 murder.

“It was the first time I wept for a man I never met,” Bridges told Variety.com.

Photo courtesy of Summerfest.

SEPTEMBER 4

STYX

9:30 p.m., BMO Harris Pavilion

BY MICHAEL POPKE

Few bands that peaked in the ‘70s toured as hard and consistently as Styx. The two remaining original members—guitarist James “J.Y.” Young and bassist Chuck Panozzo—both are in their early 70s, and longtime guitarist and de facto band leader Tommy Shaw will be 68 on September 11.

Yet Styx still manages to sound upbeat, fresh and vital, performing sets in recent months that mix older cuts with new material and even a few deep tracks.

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the band’s first album, Styx, but it wasn’t until Shaw joined the group in 1975 that Styx’s arty progressive-rock sound morphed into something substantially more mainstream. Future classics quickly followed: “Crystal Ball,” “Come Sail Away,” “Miss America,” “Renegade,” “The Best of Times,” “Mr. Roboto.”

All told, 16 Styx singles have hit the Billboard top 40 (beginning with 1972’s “Lady” and ending with 1991’s “Love at First Sight”); eight of those songs have gone top 10. Over the past 25 years, Styx suffered punches that would have knocked out other bands. In 2001, Panozzo announced he’s gay and living with full-blown AIDS; his twin brother, original Styx drummer John, died from cirrhosis of the liver in 1996; and the ugly departure of original vocalist/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung in 1999 led to legal issues within the band and more than two decades later still divides the Styx fanbase.

Nevertheless, the band’s current version has been together since 2003 and also includes Lawrence Gowan on vocals and keys, Todd Sucherman on drums and bassist Ricky Phillips (who sometimes is joined by Panozzo on stage).

In June, Styx released Crash of the Crown—its 17th studio album and second since 2017—which succeeds at keeping the band’s signature sound alive.

SEPTEMBER 9

DJ JAZZY JEFF

4:00 p.m., Generac Power Stage

BY MICHAEL POPKE

Will Smith may have left the man born Jeffrey Allen Townes behind, but the 56-year-old DJ and record producer has done quite well on his own since the duo won Grammys for “Parents Just Don’t’ Understand” and “Summertime” in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

Since the turn of the millennium, DJ Jazzy Jeff has consistently released albums and mixtapes, including 2018’s M3 — which completed The Magnificent trilogy he began in 2002 and continued in 2007. AllMusic.com described that record as “in tune with [his] aesthetic, predominantly mellow but invigorating grooves with diversions into post-bop jazz, funk, straight hip-hop, and house, and occasionally laced with the man’s distinctive scratching.”

Along the way, DJ Jazzy Jeff (also known as simply “Jazz”) has worked with Jill Scott, The Roots, Talib Kweli, Mac Miller and several other artists. Among his more recent projects is a series of remixes he made with Kaidi Tatham (who’s been referred to as “the U.K.’s Herbie Hancock”) for French DJ producer Sebb Junior’s soulful R&B collaboration “Don’t Stop” featuring Eric Roberson & Paula.

Jazz also livestreams his own “Magnificent House Party” shows and chronicles his world travels in his “Vinyl Destination” web series, which takes viewers behind the scenes with him and his crew.

He’s even reunited with Smith for production credits and a handful of live shows. While Smith is not likely to pop up at Summerfest, DJ Jazzy Jeff brings plenty of material and charisma to the stage, pulling from multiple eras and styles.

Photo courtesy of Summerfest.

SEPTEMBER 10

WILCO

10:00 p.m., Miller Lite Oasis

BY DAVE GIL DE RUBIO

Wilco is back and it’s a pretty big deal for fans of a band that started out a quarter of a century ago in the alt-country corner of the room, before evolving into an eclectic indie rock band more concerned with unique creative expression than fitting into a neat box.

While Jeff Tweedy seemed the busiest member of this sextet during the three-year gap that followed Wilco’s 2016 album, Schmilco, fellow founding member John Stirratt not only spent that time touring as a duo with singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne, he also got involved in running a hotel in North Adams, MA. But at this juncture, singer/guitarist Tweedy, bassist Stirratt and the other Wilco members are focused on resuming a tour to promote Ode to Joy, the group’s 11th album. “I don’t think there was any feeling that we were going to stop,” Stirratt says.

The seeds for Ode to Joy were planted by Tweedy and drummer Glenn Kotche, both of whom sought to make a more atmospher-

Photo courtesy of Summerfest. Photo by Annabel Mehren.

ic record goosed along by the latter’s rhythms and the former’s wistful croon. Comfortably ensconced in middle age, Tweedy’s lyrics are wrapped in a cloak of self-awareness. Tweedy’s experience of losing a loved one is at the heart of “White Wooden Cross,” with its layering beautifully strummed guitar and Kotche’s subtle timekeeping, while the lumbering cadence of “We Were Lucky” gives guitarist Nels Cline a chance to cut loose with a bit of six-string squall and howl. experiences.

“Things have been a little more rushed out in our lives than in years past. We hammer everything out on the floor arrangements-wise. But most of the arrangements are pretty set,” Stirratt says. “Glenn and Jeff got together to work on these drum sounds and drum performances, along with acoustic guitar and some bass. We sort of created these kinds of big, dry drum sounds. It kind of set the tone for the record. Everyone else convened and sort of just worked through the rest of the instrumentation after the fact, from that point. We never really recorded like that before. It’s a change in process. A lot of times it paid off.”

SEPTEMBER 11

THE GUFS

6:00 p.m., Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard

BY MICHAEL POPKE

Where have The Gufs been for the last 15 years? Until recently, the last recorded output we’d heard from the Milwaukee quartet was the 2006 album, A Different Sea — which featured one of the band’s finest songs, “Beautiful Disaster.” After that came sporadic and select local shows over the years, including a pair of soldout 30th anniversary performances at The Pabst Theater.

Now, one month shy of the silver anniversary of their 1995 self-titled major-label debut, The Gufs will reunite once again for Summerfest. The band formed at UW-Milwaukee in 1988, and all four original members remain. In addition to a back-catalog that contains several studio albums, and a handful of memorable singles, The Gufs will have at least two new songs to perform.

During the coronavirus lockdown last year, the band recorded “One” and “Hero” individually across four different studios. The new singles embrace everything that endeared The Gufs to altrock fans in the first place — a fuzzy sound tempered by Goran Kralj’s sweet lead vocals along with moderate influences from R.E.M., Gin Blossoms and fellow Milwaukeeans BoDeans — while still sounding contemporary, relevant and undaunted.

While The Gufs were on their latest hiatus, Kralj stayed busy. He recorded two solo albums under the name “Goran” (2019’s Under A Nashville Sky and 2020’s Airports & Alibis) as well as a single about the pandemic, “When This Is Over.”

But demand for The Gufs to play Summerfest had built over the years. “You asked. They listened. We’re back!” proclaimed the band’s Facebook page on May 6 announcing the gig at The Big Gig.

Photo courtesy of Summerfest.

SEPTEMBER 16

JIMMIE ALLEN

8:00 p.m., USCellular Connection Stage

BY JAMIE LEE RAKE

Jimmie Allen’s uniqueness among current country radio mainstays lies more in his being from rural Delaware than being a Black man in a genre where—Darius "Hootie" Rucker excepted—lighter performers get most of the airplay. There has been a significant, if intermittent, African American presence in country since The Grand Ole Opry’s earliest days. Country singers hailing from Joe Biden’s old stomping grounds, however, are considerably rarer.

Demographics and geography aside, it’s neither his heritage nor point of origin that first drew country listeners to Allen. It was his voice. Allen possesses a buttery smooth, intimately youthful instrument befitting his handsome visage as well as his female-friendly material that has been downloaded and streamed millions of times. And though Allen currently stylistically veers toward the more pop-oriented side of country, he can deliver the goods with rootsier material, too.

Regardless of how he next decides to present himself, Allen has been about the business of extending his brand and doing some good along the way since his 2018 debut. Authoring an empowering children’s book, raising money for charity on Family Feud and organizing a music festival in his little New England hometown are all admirable pursuits. But none of them will be what fills seats at Summerfest. It will be his voice. As well it should be.

SEPTEMBER 17

PSYCHEDELIC FURS

10:00 p.m., Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard

BY JOSHUA M. MILLER

Since forming in London in the late ‘70s, The Psychedelic Furs have excelled in creating their own unique brand of post punk.

“I think we’re the missing link between punk and alternative,” says bass player Tim Butler. “When we started with punk, we had the sort of songwriting of like a sort of more of a Roxy Music. We took the energy of punk and added it to those bands and came up with our own sound.”

While the band’s tour plans last year were put on hold due to the pandemic, they made up for it by releasing Made of Rain, their first album since 1991.

“We had a hiatus from ‘92, all the way through to 2000. And when we started getting together again, we had our song ideas that we passed around through the past whatever it is, 20 years, since we got back together,” says Butler. “But we were always nervous the songs we were writing wouldn't stand up alongside some of our so-called classic Fur songs. We were really nervous actually about going and recording. “But it came to a point, a couple years ago, where we were listening to our demos. And we all said to each other, ‘Well, we have the makings of a great album.’ And we were halfway through our tour, and we were firing on all cylinders, musically. We just thought, ‘Let's get in while we’re together and we’re playing well together and record this stuff?’”

The band recorded the album in two two-week sessions, often recording songs into two or three takes and picking the best one. “It’s really first album we didn't over-bake it, or overthink it, or over-overdub,” says Butler. “I think it’s very fresh, and I think it does stand up there with our older stuff.”

The band is excited to get back out on the road and share these songs with their fans. “We’ve been off the road for almost two years. It’s been almost two years since I’ve actually seen the other members of the band, which is bad enough. My brother [Richard], I haven’t seen him in-person,” says Butler. “That’s going to be exciting, and to get back onstage and play new material … We’re excited. Hopefully, the audience is excited. It’s doubly exciting, because of the new album. So, I just can't wait.”

Photo courtesy of Summerfest.

SEPTEMBER 18

GUNS N' ROSES WITH MAMMOTH WVH

6:00 p.m., American Family Insurance Amphitheater

BY MICHAEL POPKE

The reunion tour that was never supposed to happen keeps rolling on.

After reuniting in 2016 for the first time since the ‘90s, three of the original five members of Guns N’ Roses hit the road for the “Not In This Lifetime Tour.” The three-and-a-half-year trek—featuring Axl Rose on vocals, Slash on guitar and Duff McKagen on bass—included a 2017 stop in Milwaukee and grossed almost $600 million. So why not keep it going?

Easier said than done when it comes to Summerfest.

Originally booked to play the American Family Insurance Amphitheater on the Fourth of July last year (before coronavirus canceled 2020’s Big Gig), Guns N’ Roses rescheduled for July 10, 2021, before Summerfest altered its format to three weekends in September.

Getting Rose, who is notorious for unpredictable and irrational behavior, to recommit a third time to Summerfest was no guarantee, but organizers pulled it off. What’s more, Summerfest will be the only performance on Guns N’ Roses’ North American summer tour that won’t take place in a stadium or arena.

Recent setlists have leaned heavily toward material from 1987’s Appetite for Destruction: “Welcome to the Jungle.” “Paradise City” “Sweet Child o’ Mine.” “Nightrain.” And why not? That record is still the best-selling debut album of all time, moving more than 30 million copies globally. Guns N’ Roses reportedly is working on a new album, too.

The artist opening the show might very well represent the next generation of American rock. Wolfgang Van Halen— Eddie’s kid who took over for original bassist Michael Anthony in Dad’s band— released a self-titled debut album in June under the name Mammoth WVH (a nod to Eddie’s first band before Van Halen became Van Halen). On it, he plays all instruments, sings all vocals, delivers big choruses and manages to sound nothing like you-know-who.

Photo courtesy of Summerfest.