Summerfest has been making Milwaukee move for over fifty years, providing stages for bands of every possible kind. Strolling the festival with your ear to the ground is a fun way to discover new sounds, but sometimes it’s nice to plan ahead. We’ve put together a few genre-specific afternoons/evenings for you to choose from, featuring music of a similar vibe, all at one stage on the same date!
‘80s New Wave and Post-Punk: The Dream Syndicate, Modern Love & Echo and The Bunnymen
Thursday June 18th at The Generac Power Stage
3:30 p.m: Get warmed up with the OGs of post-punk rock (Talking Heads, The Cars, etc.) courtesy Milwaukee cover band Circa 79.
5:30 p.m.: Catch pioneers of the Paisley Underground The Dream Syndicate for psychedelic sounds to jangle your way to dusk.
8:30 p.m.: Stop the world and melt with Liverpool’s Modern Love and their iconic swirl of punky New Wave ‘80s goodness.
10:30 p.m: Let the killing moon hover above dark legends of teenage bedrooms everywhere – catch Echo and The Bunnymen for an epic evening-ending trip into the underworld of pop perfection.
Hip-Hop Hooray: Queen Drie, Troy Tyler, Emmett James, FEE$ and Tyrese
Friday June 19th at the T-Mobile Stage
2:30 p.m: Get into the groove with Queen Drie, who delivers elements of hip-hop, R&B, jazz and Afrobeats in authentic songs of poetic self-determination.
4:15 p.m.: Keep it smooth with multitalented Menomonee Falls native R& B singer/songwriter Troy Tyler.
6:15 p.m.: Catch Milwaukee’s own Emmitt James, well-known for his insightful and humorous stage banter along with deeply felt indie hip-hop sagas of life in Cream City and beyond. Be sure to catch James with some good food, as the artist will share tasty lyrics and may bring his own brand of Jerk N’ Turf for your appetizers.
8:15 p.m: FEE$ promises “engaging, smooth style that blends modern hip-hop with R&B and live instrumentation.”
10:15 p.m.: Then, get ready to move when headliner Tyrese hits the stage with Grammy-nominated classic soul and R&B sounds sure to keep things bopping until the lights go out.
Alt/Indie – The Revivalists, Grouplove, and Two Feet
Friday June 26 at Uline Warehouse Stage
5:45 p.m.: Two Feet has racked up millions of listens of his soulful, atmospheric songs with a big bass bottom, riffing guitar and modern electro flash.
7:30 p.m: Los Angeles’ Grouplove supply slippery, psychedelic songs like “Back in the ’90s” which closed the iconic BoJack Horseman show. They’ve kept their indie bonafides while managing to deliver several Top 20 Billboard Alternative charting performances.
9:30 p.m: Headliners from New Orleans known to mix rock, R&B, soul and country, The Revivalists are rooted in the American South, with forays into funk and danceable grooves.
Reggae – Pepper, The Movement, Expendables
2:45 p.m: King Solomon is a Milwaukee staple of reggae music, so it’s appropriate that they kick off the long day of good vibrations with their “dancehall roots reggae with a powerhouse punch to the heart.”
6:30 p.m.: The Expendables bring bouncy island rhythm to the stage with their brand of reggae rock from Santa Cruz, California.
8:30 p.m: The Movement wants you to “Cool Down” their otherworldly reggae grooves, brought to you all the way from Columbia, South Carolina.
10:30 p.m.: Pepper provides a tasty “Kona Dub-Rock” blend of reggae, alternative rock, dub, island rhythms, and punk rock energy at their shows. Get spicy.
90s Alternative Radio Greats: Sister Hazel, Spindoctors and The Gin Blossoms
July 2 at Uline Warehouse Stage
5:30 p.m.: It’s “All for You” with Sister Hazel, featuring their alternative ’90s rock radio staple, come for infectious pop, folk rock, classic rock, and Southern rock.
7:30 p.m.: Get your hacky sack on and boogie to the massive alternative rock hitmakers Spin Doctors, authors of the platinum LP Pocket Full of Kryptonite.
9:30 p.m.: In the tradition of The Byrds and Badfinger, The Gin Blossoms bring unlimited jangle to their timeless tunes like “Till I Hear it From You”.
Americana Roots Rock – BoDeans, The Jayhawks, and Soul Asylum
5:30 p.m: Grab some appetizers and settle in with Soul Asylum, the midwestern punk Americana band that broke through huge in the 1990s with their platinum LP Grave Dancer’s Union; they still shred.
7:30 p.m: More midwestern Americana follows with the tightly wound country-folk-rock of The Jayhawks, who meld Neil Young-inspired guitars with heavenly harmonies like those found on their seminal LP, Tomorrow The Green Grass.
9:30 p.m: No, no, no, don’t pass over Wisconsin’s BoDeans, the roots band best known for being Closer To Free, as they bring it all back home.
