Summerfest Wrap-up 2026
POSTED:: July 7, 2026
FILED UNDER:: Concert Review
How did we get that lucky with weather AGAIN?
DJ Cal – Midnight Radio / Alternate Wednesdays 7 – 9PM
Jul 06, 2026
The more years pass, the more I appreciate having Summerfest right there in my back yard. The prospect of the typical festival ordeal gets less appealing the older I get—inescapable crowds, clouds of dust and/or mudpits everywhere, no proper toilets—fond memories, activities meant for young people. Yet there were an awful lot of young people at Summerfest this year, most of whom will probably never know the dubious thrills of passing out in a tent when it’s finally cool enough to sleep only to wake up three hours later boiling in your own sweat and repeat yesterday’s madness. I highly recommend it! Everyone at Summerfest is so CLEAN, it hardly feels like a festival.
A lot of folks would also argue that the music generally isn’t as GOOD at Summerfest as at a typical festival, and sure, they’re right. A typical festival, even in modern times, has a smaller target demographic, as well as a brand image to uphold. Only Summerfest attempts to cater to EVERYONE. I spend plenty of time immersed in the things I already know I like, insulated by a wide circle of friends who nevertheless mostly share a same basic set of aesthetic preferences. We all do. So much so, that we can lose touch with the notion that other people’s preferences are even valid. Summerfest is a reminder that people’s joy, even in circumstances that may seem devoid of substance from my own perspective, is still real. I don’t see it in the grocery store or on tv, I don’t hear it much on the radio, but at Summerfest, joy is everywhere you look.
Thanks for reading Roachcraftstack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Subscribe
The best parts of the three weekends (arguably!) don’t make it into the newspaper; those overproduced spectacles in the amphitheater are never going to compare to a couple of working musicians in a beer garden, where real music gets made. With enough money you can make ANYBODY sound good these days—almost! So let’s run down a few highlights and lowlights that weren’t among my assignments. Starting with a few worsts.
David Lee Roth
I didn’t even get to see him! He came onstage 20 minutes late and I had to leave for a different assignment. But the official reviewers were pretty generous compared to what I’ve heard from the peanut gallery. He’s not even playing his solo hits?? All I was really hoping to hear was “Just Like Paradise”; that would’ve been a perfect bucket-list miracle if he’d opened with that (on time) and I could’ve just walked away happy. But judging by the opinions of all the amateur music critics I know who witnessed Dave, I’ll have to get comfortable with the idea of never hearing “Just Like Paradise” live, because I missed my window for that being a good experience. I’m still glad people showed up to see him; I’ll just stick with my memories. He couldn’t possibly have been worse than Gene Simmons, though.
Don Felder
What could have possessed me to go see Don Felder perform? Sometimes at Summerfest, the best course of action is to loiter near bad music so you can talk to your friends and not feel bad. I kid! Sort of! I mean, Felder talked through more of his own set than WE did. (Not quite as much as Gene Simmons, though.) I couldn’t make out a word of it but I assume it was thinly-veiled Don Henley hate? Like Roth, Felder played nothing but songs by his most famous band; unlike Roth (more like Gene Simmons), Felder doesn’t have any other significant material to draw from, but he does have the ability to sing the actual notes of the songs, and he also had backing vocalists to make everything sound quite Eagles-ish, although not as Eagles-ish as when I saw Don Henley do most of these same songs at Alpine Valley in 1991. None of these considerations mattered much, though, because one of the guys I was hanging out with brought his daughter along, a gal who’s planning on attending Marquette in the fall, and it was their first Summerfest, and she had such an obvious heartfelt attachment to the song “Hotel California” that when Felder ended the set with it, it had not yet been a long day and at this point maybe it was a little passé to hate the fuckin’ Eagles.
The sound mix during Living Colour’s set
WTF Generac stage crew. I love Corey Glover’s voice, okay? And Will Calhoun is an amazing drummer. But we’re here to listen to Vernon Reid SHRED, and the guitar was inexplicably buried in the mix for most of Living Colour’s set. We could clearly hear all the various wacky shit Doug Wimbish was doing with his bass/theremin rig (I wish I knew how he even made some of those sounds!) but every time Reid went for a solo it sounded like it was being pumped through a mile of copper tubing before it hit the speakers. Not sure what the problem was because this stage normally has great sound; the set was still a highlight of the festival, it just should’ve sounded much better.
The Food
As always, it sucked! There was a new place called “Wisconsin Table” and it was the only Wisconsin establishment I’ve ever patronized that would serve a dried hunk of fried mystery fish on a cold hard bun and call it a fish sandwich. No condiment, not even a leaf of iceberg. Saz’s, oh so renowned for your sampler platter: I’d prefer Milwaukee County Correctional bologna to your chicken sandwiches. Have you guys heard of McDonald’s? They get that shit out the window pretty fast, right? Every single menu item there (aside from the McRib of course) is of higher quality than 90% of what’s served at Summerfest. “Weird” or “greasy as fuck” or “drowning in mayo” qualify as “inventive” here; how about just fry a fucking chicken patty according to a fucking timer, put it on a bun that’s been BRIEFLY steamed or toasted or warmed in some fucking fashion, put a little mayo on it and SOME tiny fucking piece of a vegetable. Charge me A FUCKING EXTRA DOLLAR for a shred of lettuce if you must, but make me a decent fucking sandwich! That’s far too much to ask at Summerfest. But now I saw they had Culver’s in there. Let’s just make them all Culver’ses and Cousinses if this is seriously the best these “local establishments” can do.
The Set Times
While on one hand I definitely appreciated being able to see bands at the Johnsonville beer garden with hardly any conflicting music from nearby stages, it became apparent over the course of the fest that there was way too much dead air. Why did the music never start until 5 or so at the BMO? Why wouldn’t we have some local bands playing there during the afternoon? Why would you give a band like Soul Asylum, four-decade-plus legends who brought the gen-xers early to the grounds in droves, only an hourlong slot? Even some of the headliners only played for an hour or so; I think the only two artists I heard push their performance to closing time were Tash Sultana and Kerry King, and while I don’t think that’s entirely the fault of the festival organizers, I witnessed quite a few artists who definitely wanted to keep playing but were hustled offstage by staff. Now, I presume some of this is to ease the burden of the stage crews and ensure the best possible production for each act, blah blah blah. I don’t have cold hard data on average set lengths at Summerfest by year, or full tallies of performing artists; this is just an impression at this point. Sets seemed rushed, and stages seemed vacant a lot. The overall impression was that Summerfest, like its food vendors, was just cutting all possible corners.
Country Music
There was wayyyyyyy too much of it. After seeing kids come out in droves for the metal acts last year, this year metalheads were treated to…Megadeth—oh whoops, those dipshits then booked a July European tour—UNFORESEEN SCHEDULING CONFLICT, now we just get Kerry King. I don’t know which of these options would’ve been worse, I’m just thankful I didn’t get the assignment. There was no jamband contingent at all this year, the rap headliners were weak as hell on paper (The Roots pulled the same shit as Megadeth! Such big stars, they don’t even have the decency to fake an illness, they just straight-up book something more lucrative and say ‘fuck you, Milwaukee’!), nobody cares about rock music, and sure, there’s too much country EVERY year, but 2026 was ridiculous. And it’s bad music, I won’t sit here and pretend it’s at all deserving of anyone’s respect, forget what I said in that second paragraph a minute ago. It’s the one genre where you figure at some point oversaturation will occur but it never does, because modern country music fans only want to be told the same five goddamn stories by the same twangy vocal affectation over top of the same five guitar chords retooled over and over again into oblivion, safe, familiar and white. And we wonder why, to most people who’ve even heard of it, Milwaukee’s reputation is that of a hicktown masquerading as a city. I’ll admit that the overall Summerfest lineup was in fact way better than I realized, I’ll admit that not ALL modern country sucks, BUT ALMOST ALL OF IT DOES and they can’t make me stop demanding more diversity.
…On some more positive notes:
Local Music
So much goodness! These endless debates that go on every year about HOW Summerfest should best promote the Milwaukee scene, maybe they are productive on some level, but I don’t see Summerfest ever considering your arguments and saying ‘okay, you know what, yes, we’ll disregard profit margins this year.’ To the people that have complaints, I’m sitting here wondering what Summerfest does so poorly compared to…literally every other major music festival known to humans. Lolla, ‘Roo, Coachella, whatever you want to stack the Big Gig up against, their local support is ZEROOOO. Summerfest truly can’t win. The multiple different locations they tried for dedicated small local stages in the past, you ALWAYS ran the risk of having a main stage blow your ears out from one side or the other in the middle of your buddies’ set. Whereas ever since those stages went away, I see more and more Milwaukee artists booked on the main stages, oftentimes in prime timeslots. And I mean talented artists performing original music—in ADDITION to the array of novelty and tribute acts that used to almost make up Summerfest’s entire ‘local support’ effort. Back when it was a single contiguous event, it made more sense to have an all-day local-music stage, because it might actually lure people down there for a while on a Tuesday when there was otherwise nobody anyone’s ever heard of playing. But nobody got paid playing the Cascio Stage and whatnot, whereas I’m pretty sure you get paid if you play the Miller Stage. And in recent years we’ve seen some pretty massive crowds turn out for local support of major headliners on these stages. I think people just get stuck on a particular under-represented TYPE of music or underestimate acts they’re just not familiar with. For instance, I saw two full sets by Mrs. Fun at the Johnsonville Summerville stage-ville on Friday of opening weekend, and there was barely any sonic competition from the nearby T-Mobile or Aurora stages. They threw in a couple of covers, but their performance was almost all comprised of originals, and it doesn’t get much more out-there than Mrs. Fun doing what they do best; it’s completely different every time. Both sets I was completely lost in the music, utterly transfixed. And they’ve played this festival ALMOST every year for four decades. So I have a hard time with arguments about how Summerfest doesn’t support weird original local music. Just because they haven’t booked YOUR band.
The Dream Syndicate (and opening day in general)
I knew next to nothing about this band except that usually when I bring up The Dream Academy in conversation, people think I’m talking about the Syndicate at first. And I knew that Steve Wynn was the main guy, and that he had that band with the guys from R.E.M. called The Baseball Project which I can’t be bothered to bother with because the last thing I want to think about while listening to music is sports. After seeing the band live, I doubt their albums would even do much for me, but damn, their live show was riveting. Three of the four current members were with the band when they last played Summerfest: 1984. “We thought we’d wait another 42 years and see what happened”, said Wynn. Did he always have this gravelly, world-weary-yet-still-pissed-off vocal style? I don’t know, but combined with a handful of blistering guitar battles between Wynn and Jason Victor it was absolutely raging. If I’d had any inkling as to what the live experience of “John Coltrane Stereo Blues” was gonna be like, it would have been on my bucket list for sure; put it on yours. This was the warmup band, too; Modern English followed with a very fun but maybe slightly too self-aware set, and I didn’t get to see Echo & The Bunnymen headline but they were one of the biggest opening-night draws (I heard some withering reports from attendees on that one, though). The other was Third Eye Blind, a band that comes to Summerfest practically every year, one I always thought I hated until I was assigned to review them several years ago, an incredibly eye-opening experience (sorry!). They’re so good live! All the same, I remain ecstatic that I instead got the Tash Sultana assignment because that was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen on a Summerfest ground stage. If Sultana doesn’t become a bona fide star in the U.S. within the next couple of years I’m going to be mad at all of you.
Also: fuckin’ Tigernite, maaaan! I had not seen them in ten years and I have to ask: was Molly Roberts THAT great of a singer back then? I always loved the band but didn’t remember being quite this bowled over by her pipes. There was no possible better start to my Summerfest than this set. (With apologies to the two great local acts who played at 12:30, it just wasn’t in the cards.)
Matthew Buckley
I caught a good portion of Buckley’s set at the Ground Floor stage, one of four all-volunteer, unsanctioned Summerfest performance areas. It was early afternoon on day two, the sun was bright and it actually felt like summer, not exactly the norm for the first two weekends. Buckley sang covers and originals, just him and a guitar, and based on his subject matter let’s just say I was shocked there wasn’t an Arlo Guthrie number thrown in! But this wasn’t the only time I saw Buckley; a tall, lanky dude always dressed in bright multicolors, you could spot him busking on the thoroughfare by the goth rocks; you could see him dancing with Sudan Archives when she came out into the crowd during her mindblowing set; you could catch him jamming out to Mariachi Sol De Mexico; you might’ve noticed him being the ONLY guy in the Mindi Abair crowd fully engaged. Hell I spotted him almost every day of the fest. He was fond of referring to Summerfest as “the happiest place on Earth” and he’ll make a believer out of you even if I can’t.
Queen Drie
She came onstage about 20 minutes late so the set was somewhat abbreviated but she packed a whole lot of energy into that set. The Chicago rapper had an impressive full band backing her, and in fact the set was reminiscent in a lot of ways of last year’s Klassik set; you could imagine a crazy hometown crowd in a club and this being the hottest night of music in the city, whereas even facing the hottest sun of the weekend in Milwaukee, she put her all into this performance. She even had a couple dancers join her for multiple songs and pretty impressive choreography. It’s nearly impossible to put on a visually engaging show on the T-Mobile stage mid-afternoon; she probably doesn’t even realize the feat she accomplished with this all-too-brief set.
Substitute: Tales From The Who
…I’m just sayin’, that singer delivers the goods! And they played “Don’t Let Go The Coat”?? I used to shy away from tribute bands because they’re so unhip; now I still have to because the older I get, beloved songs that go way back to my earliest memories, in a big crowd like that especially, are more and more liable to make me cry, and so even a bunch of yokels doing competent Who covers had me fighting back tears way too many times. In broad daylight? What is wrong with me?
Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Back in the early Bonnaroo era, Robert Randolph was one of the kings of the festival circuit; maybe he still is, I don’ t know! I hadn’t seen him live in, oh, about 23 years; how’d that happen? Yet here he was, bringing some superior instrumental chops and legit jams to Summerfest, and if I closed my eyes I could imagine a big field of grass and not being the only freak around for a few minutes at a time. New bassist Jay White impressed; he could be heard and felt so clearly, it was a great example of the excellent sound quality we might be starting to take for granted at Summerfest. It wasn’t always this way! “Can’t Find My Way Home” took me back about 28 years—the first time I ever heard that song live was Summerfest ’98, my first Widespread Panic show, back when you could still get tickets to a Widespread Panic show in Milwaukee. Ah, the ‘90s. I actually don’t miss them at all.
Mountain Goats
I still have no plans to actively listen to Mountain Goats records, even though I’m sure I’d find a lot to love. I prefer to keep our relationship as it is, where I see them live every few years and then completely forget all of John Darnielle’s heart-wrenching lyrics so I can rediscover them again the next time. I can imagine a part of me dying if some day he goes into “You Were Cool” and I’m standing there singing along to every word; how could it destroy me like that if I know what’s coming? I might make an exception, though, for “No Children.” I think next time I want to be screaming that one out along with everyone else.
Sudan Archives
I credit the hosts of WMSE’s Jing Jong Triple Play for turning Milwaukee onto Sudan Archives around the time of her debut album c. 2019; I loved ATHENA, and then NATURAL BROWN PROM QUEEN took the world by storm (on some level at least), and I admit I was slightly underwhelmed when her third album, THE BPM, dropped last year; some good songs but a little slight compared to the first two records. Her set at Summerfest, however, was one of those performances that brings a whole new resonance to songs you didn’t even think you cared for, that takes you from ‘I loved their first two albums’ to ‘I’m about to listen to their whole catalog obsessively’. When I bitch about all the best artists skipping Milwaukee, this is what I’m talking about; if we didn’t have the world’s largest music festival I doubt Sudan Archives would’ve come here this summer. Hopefully you’ve seen pictures from the show; she had the audience completely enthralled from the moment she entered until she departed, making us all feel a part of something way beyond what’s usually possible in broad festival daylight. She brought us fully into her corner of the universe and made the rest of it disappear. One of the best performances I’ve ever seen here.
Random Recs
Look, nobody ever said Summerfest was like Big Ears; it’s not like you can just wander up to any old stage and have your mind blown by some unknown artist. The older I get, though, the more I look at the Summerfest lineup and go ‘…who are these people??’ So random recommendations are still key to enjoying the fest, especially if you arrive early. I got a rec on twitter to see a local funk band called Sugo I’d never heard of; they were great! I was talking with other writers who were excited to see Jean Dawson after our video shoot; I’d never heard of him before, and he was great! Hadn’t heard of The Heavy Heavy either but multiple people I knew were hitting that set—AMAZING! All these years of living, sure I’d heard of KT Tunstall, I’d seen the name Mindi Abair before, but nobody ever told me I should check them out before. So I’m telling you now, when Tunstall was nearing the end of her fantastic set, and she told us she was about to do one of her favorite covers that she does, and she singled out some dude in the audience for wearing a shirt of the guy she was about to cover, and then she played some unrecognizable thing on the guitar and then suddenly dropped into a quiet strum and went “Well I…won’t back down” I completely lost it. At the end of the song she turned her head to the sky and shouted “WE MISS YOU TOM!” and boy did I need that moment. The last weekend of Summerfest was one I wasn’t really looking forward to (assignments such as Gene Simmons, Sam Barber, BoDeans, meh at best!), but it ruled.
Summerfest buddies
I take all the blame; I just don’t get out much any more, except to actual concerts, which means a lot of dear friends around town I hardly ever see any more. But Summerfest is the actual best place to run into people, because there’s no shame in standing around talking, and there’s rarely any urgency to get anywhere. Year after year, the conversations are at least as good as the music. There were Summerfest buddies I didn’t run into this year and I miss them! There were new Summerfest buddies made that I’m excited to talk to next year. There’s a definite feeling of relief every year when it’s over; the brain is exhausted. But there’s always sadness too. I don’t have any bitterness, any more, about sacrificing three of my precious summer weekends to this thing. It’s not a sacrifice at all.
Catch more of Cal’s writing at his Substack