Summerfest Preview: July 8, 2017

Here are some of the featured performers that are set to play at Summerfest on July 8, 2017. Scroll down for the full lineup.

Future, Big Sean and Migos
American Family Insurance Amphitheater
7 p.m.

Now here’s a bill to remember: Not one, not two, but three monolithic rap acts,all of them at the peak of their commercial and critical popularity. One ofthose artists just made history this year, too: This winter, Future became thefirst artist ever to debut albums at number one on the Billboard albums chartin consecutive weeks, first with his cold-blooded, self-titled album, and thenthe following week with his much brighter HNDRXX. That second onemight be his best record yet—a beautifully crafted slab of soulful rap thatplays to his strengths as a singer, a rapper and an icon. No other artist inrap seems quite so driven right now.

Big Sean, while never nearly the critical phenom that Future is, is riding highoff of his biggest single yet, the rally anthem “Bounce Back.” Thanks in goodpart to that smash, his latest album, IDecided, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. That album featuresa guest spot from this bill’s other big act: Migos, the cultishly adoredSouthern rap trio who have helped popularize not only a specific kind of flow(a distinctive, syncopated triplet pattern) but also a dance, the Dab. Thiswinter the trio scored the first number one hit of their career with theirinescapable Lil Uzi Vert collaboration “Bad and Boujee.” (Evan Rytlewski)

Whitney
Johnson Controls World Sound Stage
8 p.m.

The Chicago garage-pop group Smith Westerns burned fast and bright, leavingbehind a small discography of catchy albums just begging to be rediscovered byfuture generations, especially their glammy 2011 record for Fat Possum Records,Dye it Blonde. That band may be done,but its members have continued to make some fantastic music. While frontmanCullen Omori set off on a solo career after the breakup of the Chicagopower-pop ensemble Smith Westerns, his former bandmates Max Kakacek and JulienEhrlich started a new group called Whitney.

The unassuming band name really doesn’t do justice to what a joy their debutalbum is. An exuberant, relentlessly hooky blend of pop, soul and psychedelia,with periodic traces of folk and country, last year’s Light Upon the Lake raked in rave reviews from publications like Paste and Pitchfork, and earned the band a vocal fan in Elton John (yes, the Elton John), who was so enthusiasticabout the record that he interviewed the group for a NewYork Times magazine feature last fall. “I just fell in love with themusic,” John beamed of the group. “I went on the website and I saw the videofor ‘No Woman.’ It was fantastic. I thought it was so wistful andso plaintive and no one else sounded like that.” (Evan Rytlewski)

Chevelle
Harley-Davidson Roadhouse
9:45 p.m.

In response to the ironic detachment of the ’90s and that era’stongue-firmly-in-cheek attitudes, alt-metal band Chevelle unapologeticallypounding out heavy music with sincerity seemed quite refreshing. “They don’thave an ironic take on what they are doing,” renowned Electrical Audio producerSteve Albini told MTV about recording the Grayslake, Ill., group’s 1999 debut, Point #1, after its release. “You only get the opportunity to be genuineonce.” It’s perhaps why so many listeners jumped on the bandwagon for the band’smajor label follow-up, Wonder What’s Next,buoyed by the alt-radio hits “The Red” and “Send the Pain Below” whicheventually earned platinum status.

Thatearnestness helped the band retain a loyal fanbase, which stayed on throughunsatisfying follow-ups and in-band fighting—comprised of three brothers, theyoungest was publically forced out in 2005. Four of the six subsequent albumslanded higher on the Billboard charts than WonderWhat’s Next. While Chevelle is no longer the over-the-airwaves mainstaythey were a decade ago, their latest album is louder and faster than anythingbefore it. The North Corridor cranksup the volume, doubles down on the Tool and Helmet reference points and makesno apologies along the way. (Kevin Mueller)