Welcome to our daily compendium of Summerfest picks, previews, promotions and opinions. Here's what's happening at the Big Gig on on Thursday, June 28. Looking for today's lineup? Click here for all of our 2018 Summerfest coverage.
Today's Big Deal: Throwback Thursday
In a break from its usual habit of stacking almost all of its noteworthy headliners at the very end of the day, last year Summerfest shook things up by booking some big acts in happy hour spots for a promotion it called Throwback Thursday. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable days of the whole festival. We're glad to see them do it again, and this year's lineup of nostalgia acts is even more novel than last year's. Between 4 p.m. and sunset today attendees will have the chance to check out: The Crystal Method, The Posies, Matthew Sweet, Alien Ant Farm, Lit and The Sugarhill Gang (with Melle Mel and Scorpio of the Furious 5).
As part of that promotion, all beverages (alcoholic and otherwise) will be 50% off between noon and 6 p.m.
At the Amphitheater: James Taylor
One of the quintessential soft adult-contemporary singer-songwriters of the 1970s, James Taylor headlines the American Family Insurance Amphitheater with his All-Star Band (that's a misleading band name, though; he's the only real star in the band). Bonnie Raitt and her band will open.
Elsewhere: Nelly, The Wallflowers, Meat Puppets and Tory Lanez
Helmeted EDM bro Mashmello gets the honor of headlining the festival's Miller Lite Oasis main stage, but the night's other side-stage headliners are delightfully random. Nelly returns to the festival to headline the U.S. Cellular Connection Stage at 9:45 p.m.; rapper Tory Lanez holds down the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard at 10 p.m.; '90s hitmakers The Wallflowers do the BMO Harris Pavilion at 9:45 p.m., and the Meat Puppets play the Johnson Controls World Sound Stage at 10 p.m. (You can revisit our 2017 interview with the Meat Puppets where they discuss their expanded lineup).
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Today's Milwaukee Music Picks
Johnson Controls World Sound Stage claims the day's most impressive lineup of Milwaukee-area acts. Highlights include rockers Faux Fiction at 3 p.m., the absurdly ambitious pop-punk ensemble Telethon at 4:15 p.m., the rootsy, Tenement-affiliated indie band Dusk at 6:45, and the Milwaukee-affiliated alt-country band Drivin N Cryin at 8 p.m. For music fans not into the whole Throwback Thursday thing, this is the stage to park at.
Here's Today's Complete Lineup
Read more of our Summerfest coverage, including editor picks, concert previews, daily promotions and opinions here.
