I saw a paywalled article about the Summerfest 2026 lineup, so I checked out the lineup, and….
Geez, Louise. I don’t really know any of the bands except for singers and bands that I might have seen at Summerfest 30 years ago.
- Garth Brooks
- 10000 Maniacs
- The Spin Doctors
- Aldo Nova
- Bodeans
- Christopher Cross
- Echo and the Bunnymen
- Gin Blossoms
- Lisa Loeb
- Little Feat
- Living Colour (now in dress suits instead of diving suits)
- Soul Asylum
- Styx
- Third Eye Blind
What, no Gufs? No Surf Boys? Or are they nested deeper in the schedules?
The only artists I’ve heard of in the years I’ve been away from Wisconsin (32 years and counting, gentle reader, may the years keep counting but the away may vary) are Jelly Roll, Halestorm, Mindi Abair, and From Ashes to Embers (and this last I’ve only seen the name because my cousin’s husband posts a lot of their videos on Facebook). I mean, I think I might have heard of some of the newer country stars. But the pop and hip hop? Nah.
You know, gentle reader, when I was going to Summerfest several times every year, I saw old bands like Bachmann Turner Overdrive, the Turtles, Steppenwolf, and others. They played before the then-contemporary headliners on most stages, and….
Now, those then-contemporary headliners are now the novelty acts (except Garth Brooks who is on the main stage for two nights).
Pardon me while I go to the mirror and watch the Matt Damon aging from Saving Private Ryan in real time. Actually, scratch that: In the mirror, I always look twenty or thirty. To live the meme, I’ll have to go from the mirror to a recent photo. That guy looks my age.
Which is not to say Summerfest would not be a good time, but: I avoid crowds now as much as possible, and my dancing on picnic tables and thrashing to non-thrash music would look far worse now than it did then.
