Summerfest

For 11 days out of the year, Milwaukee host Summerfest which is the biggest music festival in the world according to the Guinness world record. So for 11 days on 11 stages you get roughly 700 bands performing. I am not talking about local or regional bands, you get them as well but also a lot of mainstream acts, past and present.

So when I was ask if I wanted to come, curious, I said yes and I am glad I did.

The day we chose to go was July 2nd, but the festival runs from late June to early July.

When we arrived, I was surprise by the size of the venue. Which is at the Henry Mailer Festival Park running alongside the lake in Milwaukee. From the map below you can see the size of the park and the location of the stages.



There were a lot of people in attendance but unlike other concerts or festival I've been to I never felt it was crowded, again due to the sheer size of the park. The price I paid for a ticket was $15 but is discounted or free depending on promotions.

There is a premium surcharge of roughly ~$50 if you choose to see the headline act on the big stage, which has a seating capacity of 23,000. The headline act for the night I went to was No Doubt. I like some of their songs but not for that amount. It worked out great though because it allowed me to listen and watch lesser known acts.

Besides that they also have a lot of food option bringing out some of local area restaurants. Nothing special here that you can't get in any major cities. But of course if you are up in Milwaukee you have to load up on some beer brats and sauerkrauts. Also, being that it is a Miller town, this is pretty much the beer of choice.

Special attractions are like any usual carnival minus the rides. But they do have one called the Skyglider which takes you up on something similar to a ski lift. This saved a lot of time for us because it goes almost end-to-end in the park, which helped us navigate over the crowd.

So for tonight, after deciding to skip out on the headline earlier I venture to see who were performing on the other 10 stages. They definitely have some thing for some one. For the 9pm prime show you have acts such as Whitesnake, Judas Priest, Femi Kuti, Wild Sweet Orange, Red Bull DJ series and of course the BMX Stunt Team.


But really it came down to Matisyahu or Shiny Toy Guns for the evening show. Just our luck, they happen to be on the opposite end of the park. I chose to go see STG with one of my friends while the other went to see Matisyahu.



With all that value I definitely recommend going to at least for a day.

The following clips are from SXSW performance but Summerfest performance was similar.



This was the first time I've seen and heard Shiny Toy Guns and I was impressed. They definitely put on a great show.

You can classify their style as electronica, synthpop and rock. But it all works together.

The song below "Le Disko" should be more familiar. A fun song to listen to.



The band has two lead singer, Chad Petree on the guitar and Sisley Treasure on bass or keyboard on occasions. Mikey Martin on drums and Jeremy Dawson on bass and keyboard.

Chad and Sisley alternate singing in the songs and the two different approach brings a balance of the male and female perspective. It is even more evident when you see them live.

Sisley has very good stage presence and entertaining to watch. She dances a lot and shows a range of emotion through her movement. Which is great storytelling for the song.

It amazes me that she is the same girl that was competing in the show "Search for the next Pussycat Doll." She had previous experience being in a band called "Cooler Kids" and so she came in the show being known as the rock chick. That pretty much typecast her and got her bounce from the show. I am glad she got knock out of the competition and not allowed to be molded in the pop factory.

When the original female singer Carah Faye Charnow left (kicked out from the band?), Sisley replaced her. Carah did the female vocals on the first albums "We Are Pilots" while Sisley did the vocals on the second album "Season of Poison." They both sound good in different ways, so I believed a lot of fans have moved on. Sisley can definitely hold her own.

This song is my favorite from their performance.