Photo courtesy of Summerfest
The Beths - Summerfest 2026
The Beths performing at Summerfest on the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage (2026)
In a festival crowded (some might say overcrowded) with bro-country, rawk and nostalgia acts, it is never a bad idea to root for the underdog especially if the underdog happens to be one of the best bands Summerfest has booked.
New Zealand’s The Beths headlined the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard on Thursday to a crowd faithfully steeped in their power pop sounds. The band also played Summerfest in 2019.
The quartet bounded onstage, casually dressed and exactly resembling the fans in the bleachers who picked this day to spend at Summerfest. Yet if The Beths’ appearance gave the impression they could blend Zelig-like into the sea of fest-goers the songs stood up with any headliner on any stage.
Fronted by vocalist-guitarist Elizabeth Stokes, The Beths played a set of fuzzy pop that recalled the dream jangle of vintage 4AD groups and made good use of the loud-quiet-loud dynamic. In some ways The Beths resembled a sonic doppelganger to Milwaukee’s Testa Rosa.
Jonathan Pearce few played few guitar solos but his parts, like the rest of the band, chose pieces that fit together to serve the song with the band vocalizing big choruses the went something like “BA-BA-BA!”
“We are running ahead of time,” Stokes said at one point asking if anyone had a request; the members would also introduce each other, in turn. Those moments and a preoccupation with the Skyglider sincerely endeared the band to the audience.
With an extended, shimmering atmospheric intro the band leaned into “Til My Heart Stops.” Stokes sang “I wanna ride my bike in the rain, I wanna fly my kite in a hurricane.” The Beths may not have had changing the weather on the setlist but they made Milwaukee a welcome tour stop.
