Welcome to our daily digest of Summerfest picks, previews, promotions and opinions. Here's what's happening at the Big Gig on Sunday, July 7.
Three generations of hip-hop acts take the amphitheater stage on Summerfest’s closing night. The festival grounds will be alive to many others sounds that day, including the progressive salsa of La Sonora Ponceña at the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse and a unique spin on progressive rock by Rodrigo y Gabriela at the Uline Warehouse.
Lil Wayne w/ Snoop Dogg and Schoolboy Q @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater, 7:30 p.m.
This year’s Summerfest run wraps with a multigenerational bill of gangsta-minded hip-hop. Even if one abbreviates the meaning of “generation” to “every few years,” the work of Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg and Schoolboy Q covers nearly 30 years.
Though Wayne tops the bill, any of the three acts could easily headline by themselves. Getting his start as a high schooler in the late ’90s on New Orleans’ influential Cash Money Records, Wayne was a solo rapper and part of the Hot Boys with fellow label luminaries including B.G. and Juvenile. Wayne has achieved a rarefied place of dominance and ubiquity.
In the years prior to his 2008 pop breakthrough, Tha Carter III, he guested on scads of other rappers and singers tracks; seeding the musical landscape, he has since reaped success bountifully with his often witty rhyme flow, occasionally supplemented by forays into folkiness and metallurgy.
Snoop Dogg is the grand old man of this line-up and the most occupationally rounded. An argument could be made that he has never topped his first hit, a vicious contribution to former NWA MC/producer Dr. Dre’s eponymous contribution to the 1992 cop movie, Deep Cover. By being a secondary voice to Dre on his multi-platinum blueprint for the gangsta funk that dominated Southern California hip-hop for much of the ’90s, the erstwhile Snoop Doggy Dogg gained a high cultural profile for his simultaneous cuddly and menacing personality.
Over the past quarter-century, he remains an active rapper who has flirted with reggae and country, also lending his brand to porn videos and marijuana and overseeing one of last year’s best-selling soul gospel albums, The Bible of Love (?!).
If relative newcomer Schoolboy Q is anywhere near as contradictory as Dogg, his occasionally funny, consistently gritty tales of the Los Angeleno underworld doesn’t betray it. He has come quite a way from being a teenage drug-dealing Crip to confrere of Pulitzer Prize-winning rhyme slinger Kendrick Lamar in the black hippy rap collective. Bangers including “That Part,” “Collard Greens” and “Hell of a Night” give the impression that he is no less gruff and unfazed by his heightened station. (Jamie Lee Rake)
La Sonora Ponceña @ Harley-Davidson Roadhouse, 9:30 p.m.
Since coming out in the 1960s in New York City, salsa music has infused its sound into almost every form of popular music (classic rock staples Steely Dan do not exist in a world without that Latin shuffle) and Puerto Rico’s La Sonora Ponceña has been there for it all. But even with 35 records and more than six decades under their belt, it is the live show, a living history of Puerto Rican culture that you can dance to, that remains the focus.
When the group was formed in 1944 by auto-mechanic-by-day/guitarist-by-night (side hustles are hardly a new thing) Don Quique Lucca and his friends, their ambitions were simple: Play music. Play dances. Rinse. Repeat. But with the introduction of Lucca’s son, renowned jazz pianist Papo Lucca into the group in 1958 at the ripe old age of 12, a whole new world opened for them, one that led eventually to New York City, the great Fania record label, and their debut LP Hacheros Pa’ Un Palo in 1968.
In the years that followed, the group became known for fusing modern styles with the past, taking inspiration for the broader jazz fusion/psychedelic sprawl of the day. Regardless, the band’s roots in the music of their people has remained clear as has their mission: To make people dance.
Now in their 65th year and led by the indelible talent of Papo Lucca, who took over from his father in 1968, La Sonora Ponceña are still going strong—they released a new single as late as 2018—and are bringing their songs, history and groove to the lakefront. Don’t be late, Milwaukee. And don’t forget your dancing shoes. (Kevin Hill)
Rodrigo y Gabriela @ Uline Warehouse, 9:45 p.m.
For many bands, covering and doing proper justice to Pink Floyd’s sprawling 1971 epic “Echoes” would be a mammoth, near-impossible task. But Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero, better known as Rodrigo y Gabriela, have done just that on their latest album, Mettavolution, which came out in April via ATO Records.
On their version of “Echoes,” occupying side two of the record, the duo balances staying true to the heartbeat and essence of the original while adding their own unique acoustic rock interpretation. It’s yet another example of the band putting their own spin to the artists and songs that have influenced them (past examples include Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Metallica’s “Orion”).
Rodrigo y Gabriela’s own material is just as impressive. Through their 20 years of existence, the band has wowed audiences around the world, drawing on diverse influences such as nuevo flamenco, rock, and heavy metal to create energetic and emotional compositions relying on a tight interplay of acoustic guitars. Despite largely playing as a duo, they have found ways to create an arena filling sound.
On Mettavolution, Rod and Gab turned their attention inwards in an attempt to shake things up in the studio. The album, which marks their first in four years, features songs drawing from their shared interest in Buddhism, the history of human evolution and human potential. The songs pay tribute to the duo’s thrash-metal roots in Mexico City. (Joshua Miller)
Jason Mraz @ BMO Harris Pavilion, 9:45 p.m.
Jason Mraz was studying musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City when a friend gave him an old guitar that was destined for the trash heap. It didn’t take long for the double-Grammy Award-winner and Mechanicsville, Va., native to find his inner songwriting muse. He traveled around the country and found a home among San Diego’s coffee shops, eventually inking his first album deal with Elektra Records and setting his musical legacy in motion.
Mraz’s optimistic, uptempo beat and contemplative lyrics have attracted a legion of fans around the world. In fact, the Summerfest appearance of the musician’s Good Vibes Tour follows arena dates in Southeast Asia. There’s also more than a dose of humor in his work—his 2008 album was entitled We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things—which helps give his music greater accessibility and a cross-generational appeal.
Expect a full array of Mraz’s hits during his Milwaukee concert, including “I’m Yours,” “Love is Still the Answer,” “Love Someone” and “Having It All,” a song inspired by a blessing he received from a Buddhist monk during a 2012 trip to Myanmar. He may even tap into Tonight, Not Again: Jason Mraz Live at the Eagles Ballroom,” a CD/DVD set recorded in October 2003 at the Milwaukee music venue.
If that weren’t enough, Mraz’s impressive musical prowess is matched by his social consciousness. The self-described vegan, who also owns a five-and-one-half-acre Oceanside, Calif., avocado farm, is an LGBT advocate who identifies as bisexual. In 2011, he established the Jason Mraz Foundation, which works to help charities serving human equality and environmental preservation.
In what little free time he has left, he surfs, practices yoga and does photography. It’s amazing he has time to write any songs at all, much less award-winning ones. (Michael Muckian)
Local Picks
Lil' Rev w/ Jim Eannelli @ Klement's Sausage & Beer Garden Stage, 4 p.m.
The Hungry Williams @ Johnson Controls World Stage, 12:30 p.m.
Today's Promotion: Fan Appreciation Day
Thanks to Meijer, all patrons arriving between noon and 3 p.m. will be admitted for free.
Here's Today's Complete Lineup
Downloadable one page PDF | Visit Summerfest.com for full lineup
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