BMO Harris Pavilion Summerfest Stage Layout

Let us welcome the BMO Harris Pavilion to the largest music festival in the world: Summerfest. The set-up of the stage overlooks the beautiful Milwaukee skyline and the lovely Lake Michigan as well. The BMO has a capacity of 10,000 people with a half circle arrangement. The front 5,000 seats are protected from the weather by the innovative roof overhead, while the other half is provided standing room that is exposed to the elements of Milwaukee summers, aka our current drought. The first 25 (or so) rows of the covered area is dubbed the “Lower Bowl.” Those seats have backs with cup holders. Fancy stuff, right? The “Upper Bowl” has room for 2,500 people. These folks have the luxury of sitting on bleachers that have back rests.  They are also under the roof. That is a big step up from the wobbly benches at other stages.
Also, the fact that the BMO is a FREE stage at Summerfest is another plus. (After all, who gets back rests 25+ rows away from the stage?) There is a twist, of course. What makes this stage unique is the new concept of the “Blue Circle Seat Pass.” The “Blue Circle Seat Pass” applies to the Lower Bowl, or “Blue Circle.” During the day, fans can sit anywhere they want in the theater. Once the clock strikes 7:00pm (before the opener and main act,) everyone has to vacate that area in order to let people with the “Blue Circle Seat Passes” to get to their assigned seats before the headline act performs.

Now where can we all get this Blue Circle Seat Pass to secure our spots up close and avoid the crush? They are given out free each day to the first people that ask for them. Tickets are issued on a first come, first served basis. Please remember that the BMO’s Blue Circle Seat Passes are not the same as admission tickets to Summerfest and the Upper Bowl benches up for grabs like other stages. This assigned seating is a clever new approach. If you ask me, this plan is excellent because it eliminates the pushing and shoving we all encounter when thousands of people push forward to get the best view of the big act.

As a plus, the BMO will continue to host great bands throughout the summer. In particular, the Counting Crows have been booked for next week (to be exact July 25^th.) Boston will play on August 3, and Daughtry on August 6 to name only a few. I would personally recommend going to at least one of the shows to see this new stage in person before the next season of Summerfest. If you decide to go to My Morning Jacket on August 11^th, you may just see me.

Brewers VS Twins at Miller Park | Summerfest Fans Gather in Milwaukee

Chris Narveson is 5-4 with an ERA of 5.79. He's the man on the mound for game one in this Brewers VS Twins series at Miller Park. This first game is a 7:10 start. Game three is also on the first day of Summerfest. Game time for that contest is 1:10pm.

Where do the Brewers stand? Do we want to look? Dare I talk about it? No, lets talk about great upcoming games instead. Milwaukee has a nine game home stand here. They play Houston, Seattle, and Minnesota, in reverse order of what I just put here. Milwaukee is going to be a crazy place in the next few days. With the team in town, and show at the Lakefront, there is too much to do. Summerfest fans look out. The Brewers are in town.

Justin Bieber Summerfest June 27th Show

It's official, Justin Bieber will headline Summerfest on June 27th at the Marcus Amphitheater. This 16 year old pop star will be hard pressed to fill the first three sections of the venue! Either way, this pop sensation is coming. It's a Sunday night, so I guess that it makes sense to put a barely famous pop singer on the Marcus stage. This headliner is making Verge Festival so much more attractive. If you want to rock, don't go down to Summerfest on June 27th.

Boat gig again?

I'm going to try again to see Binky Tunny and the Farmland Chokehold on the Iroquois this coming August 1st. They were rained out in June 7th. This time, I don't think that there will be a torrent of rain flooding the entire city of Milwaukee area.

The Chokehold will be playing for about 90 minutes, and they have a special acoustic show prior to their set.

Milwaukee, didn't even blink after Summerfest ended. New show annoucements have been coming out. Old School gigs like The Eagles, and Springsteen are coming up. Newer bands always fly under the radar here, but check out the Turner Hall listings for the best new acts.

Playing at Summerfest, a local perspective

In my previous post I mentioned that Summerfest trimmed off its fat, and a number of Milwaukee cover bands did not get their annual chance to perform. I say that is a good thing. Frankly, it's not a music festival if the majority of local acts are cover bands. That's a glorified church festival.

Too many talented acts that play original music get passed over for the crap-tastic cover artists if you ask me. Yea, they can perform other people's music very well, but c'mon get original.
SonicBids helped to bring talent to the various stages this year.

Meanwhile, if you read the article about how B.B. booked the Marcus Amp. shows this year, you will only get more depressed. He tried to get Coldplay, Radiohead, and other worthy bands. He was proud that he landed Stevie Wonder? Tom Petty actually wants to come here every year, so what great accomplishment is it to land an act that wants to come here?

Give me a break.

Summerfest and Milwaukee bands

A quick scan of the Summerfest line up for 2008 shows that if you are a Milwaukee Rock Band, you are relegated to the Cascio tent. Officially titled the Cascio Groove Garage, this tiny tent is located just outside the Marcus Amphitheater gates, inside the Summerfest grounds. It faces out to the food area, but other than that, you have to work your way over there. It's not a space where you will get tons of traffic. Don't get me wrong. The ususal Milwaukee based, boring cover bands are hitting the bigger stages, but if you want emerging acts, head to the Groove Garage. You have to wade through a few bands that have Cascio employees in their line up, but after that, you might be treated to some good music.

None of the bands get paid to do these shows, and a Cascio email stated that you may have to pay to play there in coming years, so do the bands a favor and buy a cd, or shirt.

Pridefest is washed out

Man O' Man did the rain fall on Pridefest. Indigo Girls were the main act this year. They were scheduled for the Miller stage. At one point, the gates were closed, and nobody could enter the Summerfest grounds. The storm raged all around, and people scrambled for shelter.

This weekend was almost a total washout for the Pridefest fans. Even if you got to the Summerfest grounds, the ride home on Saturday was nearly impossible. Major streets were blocked off.

It took some of us an hour just to drive five miles across the southern half of Milwaukee. I'm glad I'm not flooded out, but others were not so lucky. I hope Pridefest can take the hit, but come back strong for 2009. See you there?

Summerfest shows

The major concert announcements for Summerfest have started. So far, I haven't found a band that I want to see. I'm going to see the Police play after Summerfest, in late July. I wonder what Stevie Wonder will be like. That might be my old school gig for Summerfest. I hear that he brings a super tight band with him. That would do nicely. Meanwhile, Milwaukee is still cold and grey. If the temps hit 60+ we might get excited about seeing rock and roll shows in Milwaukee. For now, it's not even on the mind. Who wants to freeze by the lake? Not me. I'd rather be comfy in some warm venue like The Riverside Theater, as the city thaws out from a long, cold winter.

Summerfest coming up fast

Why did Summerfest book The Jonas Brothers to headline the last night at Summerfest? They sold out a 3000 head venue this year, but they are not worthy of a 23,000 seat venue. Sorry, put "JOBRO" on a side stage. Hell, push them out onto a lake barge for all I care. I can't believe that Summerfest would sell enough Marcus Amp. tickets to make this work. The comments I get from the adults of Milwaukee regarding Summerfest have a similar ring. They basically want to know why the festival has dropped in quality. I think I know why. It's been about the beer for the past 10 years, not the music. Summerfest pays less and less money for the musical acts, so what do you expect?

Milwaukee's biggest "gig"

Summerfest will have Tom Petty on July 5th. They call it the Big Gig here in brew city. 900,000 people will pass through the gates over ten days. Summerfest features local cover bands and touring acts. They don't have Comedy Sportz anymore because that would be too kid friendly. The Cascio music stage, next to the Marcus Amphitheater, is going to the higest bidder this year. I suspect that we will see some crap-tastic cover bands night after night on that stage now. I long for the days when you could see original musical bands in the afternoon at Summerfest. Those were the days my friend.