Photo credit: Gary Dineen
UPDATED: June 20, 2019 at 3:33 p.m.
They used to call it The Big Gig, and for many Milwaukee bands, it was true: Summerfest was the biggest gig they ever played. An audience is guaranteed, potentially an audience of hundreds (and maybe more, if your band opened at a main stage for a headline act).
Playing Summerfest was a chance to invite friends and family to see you on larger than usual stage, complete with professional sound, but more importantly, it has always been a chance to reach new people who might remember your name when it comes time to check out some music on a Saturday night.
We asked a few Milwaukee musicians to share memories of their first show at the Big Gig.
Brian Ritchie of The Violent Femmes
Summerfest, of course, was already an established and monolithic presence by the time the Femmes played our first gig there.
A few alternative music bands had good slots at Summerfest prior to the Femmes doing it. I recall a concert by The Haskels where we all turned up to support the band because we thought they represented the entire underground scene by playing at Summerfest.
The Femmes had a big following by the time we headlined one of the big stages there. I think it was called the Rock Stage. But it was more amazing when we played the Marcus Amphitheater with BoDeans and The R&B Cadets. It was a proud moment for all of us to pack the joint as locals and for locals.
John Sieger of The R&B Cadets and Semi-Twang
I can’t remember the first time I played Summerfest, but I do know it would have been with The R&B Cadets. We played there a few times and ended our run there opening for The Violent Femmes and The BoDeans. (We are happily reunited and playing there this year).
I have cheerier memories, most of them involve meeting artists I was bonkers about. Being backstage allowed me to see Albert King, cigar firmly planted, backing his own bus up to the stage. When I met him I realized why his bends seemed to defy the laws of physics—his hands were the size of baseball mitts! Another time, the great New Orleans pianist/singer Dr. John asked if he could play my guitar. I, of course, said yes and he graciously signed it for me. Later, I learned early in his career he had a couple fingers on his left hand nearly shot off so he switched to piano, lucky for us.
There were times the weather gods weren’t smiling. Anyone will tell you Semi-Twang is best served under 95 degrees. After one ridiculous scorcher I had a solar print where my watchband had been featuring little pink dots where the sun had shone through the holes. Bands used to hang more backstage to trade jokes and stories. It was a friendly scene, lubricated by free beer that these days seems to have dried up. If they ever bring it back, I’ll do my best to lighten the kegs to make things easier when it’s time to load them out. A special shout out to the stage managers and tech crews who made things work. Plus, a very mention special shout out to the late Kenny Baldwin. He was one of those supremely cheerful people you meet from time to time and that made for a happy stage.
Anyway, Happy 51st, Summerfest. I wrote you a song. Ask me about it sometime, and I’ll play it for you!
Mike Fredrickson of Spanic Boys (now with Paul Cebar’s Tomorrow Sound)
The first time I played Summerfest as I recall, I was with the Spanic Boys and we were opening for Los Lobos. Conrad Lozano, their bassist, asked me if I'd like to use his rig for the gig. It was an Ampeg with 8x10's! SVT head! I couldn't accept. I was afraid that Tom and Ian (Spanic) would have a hissy fit if they could actually hear me on stage!
I have a better story about Summerfest though:
When I was in high school, about 1973, I got to go to Summerfest in a Volkswagen with two buddies and the husband of an English teacher driving. It was me, Flynn and Kevin, a bunch of long hairs then, and Jean German's husband (whose name escapes me) driving us all cramped into a little VW beetle from Middleton to Milwaukee for the fest.
As I recall, there was only one stage, a ton of port-o-potties, and mud everywhere. It had rained the day before. The headliner was BB King, and the openers were: Heads Hands and Feet and the J Giles Band!
We were all quite stoned upon arrival as the incessant smoking of pot was the norm in that day and age. And the show was better than I could have imagined. J Giles whipped the crowd into a frenzy and BB King was in great form that night as well.
The only incidents that seem memorable were the impossibility of the Milwaukee freeway system at that time, as far as parking and finding your way around as out of towners, and I got lost after wandering off to use a bathroom.
Also, the crowd was at least half African American for the BB King show and they were all down in front. Being from Middleton I had never seen so many black people before in one place. For a country hick like me, it was a real eye opener!
Back then it was just one stage, and a few bands. And a very appreciative audience.
Blaine Schultz of The Aimless Blades
The first time The Aimless Blades played Summerfest it was a stage sponsored by WMSE radio. Driving to the far south of the grounds to the performer’s lot we parked and then a short wait for the shuttle.
Less than 10 minutes and we have our gear loaded into the truck and we are in the tinted-window van crawling through the grounds and mobs of fest-goers. At one point we stop for the stream of human traffic and we hear voices saying, “I think that is Prince in that van!”
At the stage the load out is a new experience when union stage hands ask us where we want our amplifiers placed. For my bandmates, Jim Richardson and Scott Krueger, this is old hat as their band The Shivvers headlined the Summerfest Rock Stage years ago for a live radio broadcast concert.
Scott Wooldridge of The Squares
I am reasonably sure that The Squares played at Summerfest for the first time in 1986 or ’87. Since the stage names have gone through revisions over the years, I’ll rewrite history a bit myself and say we played on the Cafe Voltaire Stage. More seriously, it’s always been a thrill to play at Summerfest. There are few gigs that have the same kind of vibe, whether you’re playing for a big crowd of people or a few dozen at noon. I’ve played in blazing hot weather and with a cold damp wind coming off the lake that literally took my breath away. Last year, we were chased offstage by a thunderstorm.
I’ve had the best of both worlds, performing fairly often onstage and also covering the festival for a variety of publications. Local and regional acts have remained my favorite memories—a marriage proposal from the stage comes to mind, but also moments like hearing The Virgins do a near a cappella version of “Crying in the Chapel” that seemed to hush the entire Summerfest grounds one afternoon. Also, I traveled to the top of the First Wisconsin Center one time to watch Trip Shakespeare play the Rock Stage. Couldn’t hear them but I stuck it to The Man by watching them for free!
Paul Cebar of Paul Cebar's Tomorrow Sound
The earliest one that I can remember was a foggy night and I was there opening for Bill Camplin. I remember more about Bill Camplin’s set than I do of ours. It was probably in the 50s temperature-wise. I remember a very dream-like set by Bill and his band on what I think was the Schlitz Country Stage, although it may have been an explicitly folk stage right on the lake. One of two memorable fog-laden sets, the other being an utterly haunted performance by Ella Fitzgerald on the main stage when it was on the north end. Sweaters and jackets in profusion.
Jerry Grillo
[Associate Entertainment Director] Vic Thomas came to hear me at a club and [Executive Director] Bo Black was instrumental in making it happen for me at Summerfest. That must have been back in the ’90s. I played on something called the Rainbow Stage, which a lot of people probably don’t remember—a small stage somewhere in between the Miller Oasis and the Briggs & Stratton Backyard. They had a lot of local jazz groups in those days. I was there with a trio. It was a lot of fun.
Read more of our Summerfest coverage, including editor picks, concert previews, daily promotions and opinions here.
