Summerfest Preview: June 29, 2017

Check out these acts at Summerfest on June 29, 2017. Scroll down for the full lineup.

Luke Bryan w/ The Brothers Osbourne
American Family Insurance Amphitheater
7:30 p.m.

You’d have to be a cynic not to appreciate the good Luke Bryan has done for hisextended family. Taking in his orphaned nieces and nephew a couple years ago toraise along with his and his wife’s own sons, among the other kindnesses he hasshown his kin, is a sign of a pretty big heart. Being the currently mostsuccessful male soloist on country radio nowadays allows Bryan to raise allthose kids in enviable style, but the man himself seems grounded andunaffected.

Though his lifestyle and approach to fatherhood may be rooted in tradition, hisapproach to country isn’t quite. Not long after his national debut in the mid-’00s,Bryan came to be associated with a movement marrying party-hearty lyrics to theinfiltration of pop hip-hop and hard arena elements to the music’s usualSouthern pride and twang. Hits exemplifying that rural-centric mash-up such as “AllMy Friends Say,” “Country Girl (Shake It for Me)” and “Huntin’, Fishin’ andLovin’ Every Day” have made him an unlikely sex symbol and role model, and he willdoubtless deliver an energetic set as he returns to Summerfest’s Amphitheaterfor his fourth appearance at the festival since 2013. (Jamie Lee Rake)

Fishbone
Briggs & StrattonBig Backyard
4 p.m.

Fishbone surfaced with the early ’80s wave of African Americanartists determined to bust down musical and social barriers. They never becameas popular as Living Colour, much less Prince, but they made an indelibleimpression on the ’80s alternative subculture.

The band was formed by South Central Los Angeles studentsbeing bussed to the San Fernando Valley—where they joined with other middleschool students. The encounter resulted in a funky collision of R&B andpunk that often found expression, early on, in a saxophone-trombone-poweredrendition of ska. At the time, “2 Tone” (i.e., integrated) ska bands were therage in the U.K. as punks explored the fast-tempo predecessor of reggae.Fishbone put a distinctly African American stamp on that music in rollickingstage shows infused with social commentary.

The vibe was aptly summed up in their debut single, “Partyat Ground Zero,” which insisted good times and upbeat attitudes might save the dayin a world on edge. As the ’80s moved on, their music became harder and moreguitar heavy. Their album The Reality ofMy Surroundings (1991) cracked Billboard’s Top 50, but personnel changes—alongwith changing times—sapped their career momentum. Through it all, Fishbone (includingseveral original members) continued to tour and record. (David Luhrssen)

Soul Asylum
Miller Lite Oasis
5:30 p.m.

SoulAsylum were the right band at the right time for ’90s alternative radio, andthey made an absolute mint during the era. One can’t help but wonder, though,whether all that success ultimately cost them some of their stature. After all,in their ’80s early years they were cult heroes in Minneapolis’ edgy rockscene, viewed by many as the true heirs apparent to the beloved Replacements.Now most people just remember them as the “Runaway Train” band.

Like a lot of material on the band’s blockbuster ’90s albums Grave Dancers Union and Let Your Dim Light Shine, that maudlinsong has not aged all that well. Yet the meat of those albums holds up: There’san urgency and a snap and a sense of humor to frontman Dave Priner’s songs thatplays just as well today as it did during the flannel era.

The band’s lineup has turned over quite a bit over the last decade. BassistKarl Mueller died of cancer in 2005 and was replaced for a time by TommyStinson of The Replacements. Stinson left the band in 2012, the same year asfounding guitarist Dan Murphy did. Prince drummer Michael Bland joined thegroup in 2005, and he’s left a mark on their sound. With him behind the kit,their 2016 album Change of Fortune isone of the band’s funkiest, most rhythmic records. (Evan Rytlewski)