Photo by Andrea Bartley.

 (For a gallery of photos from the show, click HERE!) 

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There are clearly advantages to the 10 p.m. time slot. As a band, you’re the headliner of a particular stage, which means you’ve made it in some musical circle (congrats!), and there’s a good chance your audience members have had a few. In fact, they might be so tipsy that anything you mumble into the microphone will sound like absolute gold. You’ll get cheers and applause, and the show will go down as one of the best in your mind. Until you watch the video.

Photo by Andrea Bartley.

So I have to ask, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, what were you doing last night? You had a huge, totally excited crowd. And then you had Henry Winkler introduce you! Here in Milwaukee, that’s a pretty nice celeb sighting. But it was downhill from there.

There were highlights, of course. “Janglin” had great energy, and the audience seemed to enjoy “Home” though I’m not sure frontman Alex knew the words. Jade, however, did sound great. It’s also not clear whether Edward Sharpe was working off an actual set list. Those are typically good to have.

But alas, it’s Summerfest, and it was still a coup to get a lineup this strong. But as for you, Edward Sharpe, word on the street is you put on stellar shows, so here’s to hoping you come around these parts again, so we Milwaukeeans can give you another go of it.