Editor's Note: Read more of our Summerfest coverage, including editor picks, concert previews, daily promotions and opinions here.
One of the realities of booking a massive, 11-day music festival like Summerfest is that headliners are inevitably going to repeat themselves. There's no way around it, which is why it can sometimes seem like Summerfest's lineups are more or less different permutations of the same several dozen artists some years. 2018, however, is not one of those years.
Even just a quick glance at Summerfest's just-released lineup of more than 100 side-stage headliners shows that this is one of the festival's most impressive in years, with an unusual number of notable headliners who have either never played the festival or are performing for the first time in years: Kesha, Janelle Monáe, The Pixies, Jason Isbell, Grizzly Bear, Spoon, Nick Lowe, GoldLink, Soccer Mommy, Marshmello, Phantogram, Sugar Hill Gang (!), Meat Puppets, Greta Van Fleet, The Posies. Even Lil Uzi Vert is in there; that's a welcome departure from the usual Talib Kweli/Common/Atmosphere hip-hop bookings the festival used to default to.
And, sure, there are some returning perennials, but they're fun ones like Nelly and The Gin Blossoms—the kinds of artists that would make more prestigious music festivals a lot more entertaining. It used to be that when Summerfest created Coachella-style lineup posters for the festival it wasn't fooling anybody. This year's poster, though, looks mighty proud.
You can find the complete lineup of side-stage headliners below, followed by the daily lineup of the daily lineup of American Family Insurance Amphitheater Headliners.
American Family Insurance Amphitheater Headliners:
June 27: Imagine Dragons w/ Grace VanderWaal
June 28: James Taylor & His All-Star Band with Bonnie Raitt & Her Band
June 29: Halsey & Logic w/ NF
June 30: Florida Georgia Line w/ Bebe Rexha
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July 1: Dave Matthews Band
July 3: J. Cole
July 4: Journey & Def Leppard
July 5: Shawn Mendes w/ Charli XCX
July 6: Black Shelton w/ Luke Combs
July 7: The Weeknd
July 8: Arcade Fire w/ Manchester Orchestra
Side Stage Headliners:
Marshmello
Lil Uzi Vert
Steven Tyler
Ke$ha
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
Alesso
The Flaming Lips
Pixies
Greta Van Fleet
Foster The People
Billy Currington
Janelle Monáe
Jethro Tull
Tory Lanez
Kip Moore
Kaleo
The Neighbourhood
Rachel Platten
Louis The Child
Phantogram
Cheap Trick
Grizzly Bear
Spoon
Børns
Yonder Mountain String Band
The Fray
HELLYEAH
Buddy Guy
Kane Brown
Slightly Stoopid
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly
Cheat Codes
Chromeo
O.A.R.
Jon Batiste with The Dap-Kings
GoldLink
Machine Gun Kelly
Timeflies
Nelly
Bretty Young
Benjamin Booker
Capital Cities
Judah & The Lion
Victor Manuelle
George Thorogood & The Destroyers
Social Distortion
Gavin DeGraw
Echosmith
Rick Springfield
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Mayer Hawthorne
Trace Adkins
Buckcherry
P.O.D.
Black Violin
Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo
Party Favor
Trampled By Turtles
Gin Blossoms
Hunter Hayes
Boz Scaggs
Bishop Briggs
Anderson East
Lukas Nelson and Promise Of The Real
Sugar Hill Gang and Grandmaster Melle Mel & Scorpio Furious 5
Howard Jones
Michael Franti & Spearhead
The Soul Rebels
The Crystal Method
High Valley
Plain White T’s
Xavier Omar
Hurray For The Riff Raff
Lissie
Medasin
The Wild Feathers
Knox Fortune
The Edgar Winter Group
Joywave
Phil Vassar
Maxi Priest
Devin Dawson
CVBZ
Carlie Hanson
Candlebox
Jonny Lang
Great White
Matthew Sweet
Walker Hayes
Savannah Conley
Pop Evil
Nick Lowe featuring Los Straitjackets
Lynch Mob
Welshly Arms
The Posies
Lit
The James Hunter Six
Molly Hatchet
Drivin N Cryin
Meat Puppets
Fastball + Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers
A Flock Of Seagulls
Cornerstones Of Rock
Chris Lane
Under The Streetlamp
Dead Horses
Wishbone Ash
Alien Ant Farm
Andreas Moss
Bay Ledges
Jimmie Allen
Jake Ross
The O’My’s
John Nemeth
Walter Trout
The Wombats
Liza Anne
Justin Caruso
CADE
Men I Trust
Soccer Mommy
Caroline Rose
Abby Jeanne
Waker
Sunflower Bean
Too Many Zooz
MILCK
Little Feather
MALO
Alex Guthrie
Bu
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