Every Friday, Stuff We Missed looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for, well, stuff we missed throughout the week.
• With another snow storm on its way, temperatures still in the 20s and 30s, and only 8,000 years of winter left to go, let’s talk about Summerfest, shall we? Specifically, let’s talk about who’s playing Summerfest. So far, the 2020 American Family Insurance Amphitheater headliners are:
Justin Bieber – June 24
Luke Bryan – June 25
Sam Hunt – June 26
Chris Stapleton – June 30
Ozzy Osbourne – July 1
Dave Matthews Band – July 2
Halsey – July 3
Guns ‘N Roses – July 4
Not bad! Only three headliners remain. (JUST BOOK WEIRD AL ON THE BIG STAGE AND BE DONE WITH IT, SUMMERFEST.) The 2020 Big Gig runs June 24-28, and June 30 – July 5. [Summerfest]
• Remember all that pesky “toxic work environment” news coming from the Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee for the Democratic National Convention? Well, never mind, because the committee has just announced that the Summerfest grounds will be the site of the official Delegate Welcome Party! The event is set for Sunday, July 12—a.k.a. the day before the convention begins. [Milwaukee 2020]
• Summerfest is beefing up its 2020 Summerfest Tech program, which is set for June 23-24. This year’s topics will include “venture capital, health care, water technology, and hiring and recruitment.” [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Oh, and buckle up for a showdown between Summerfest and “incensed” Milwaukee officials. At issue is the question of whether or not the “flush-with-cash” Big Gig should pay more for its ever-increasing police presence. Urban Milwaukee‘s Bruce Murphy explains:
Under Summerfest’s lease with the city it pays a fee for police services provided by the Milwaukee Police Department, which was just $134,392 in 2019. The full cost of those services, however, was $813,297, leaving taxpayers footing the bill for $678,905 in uncompensated services.
“My colleagues are incensed,” Ald. Bob Bauman says. “We are cutting sworn strength in the police department and facing rising police pension costs because of budget problems. And we’ve got [Summerfest CEO Don] Smiley making all this money and Summerfest sitting on all this cash while we subsidize their police costs.” [Urban Milwaukee]
• Too Much Metal’s Fred Gillich is launching his own “414 beer.” The beer—brewed by Vernacular Brewing—is a “premium-style lager, brewed with German Heirloom barley malt, Mittlefrüh hops and a German lager yeast strain.” It will soon be available “in cans and on tap at Ray’s Wine and Spirits and Growler Gallery and, then, at local bars and restaurants.” [OnMilwaukee]
• The annual Firkin Fest will not return in 2020. “I read the tea leaves,” organizer Curt Foreman says. “My gut is telling me the Firkin has run its course. It’s a little sad because we’ve always had such great participation and passion by the brewers for this event.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• The snack boys behind Snack Boys will stay open in their Walker’s Point location through Sunday, March 15. After that, they’re movin’ on up to the East Side. [OnMilwaukee]
• Waukesha might build a statue of music legend Les Paul. It’s weird that it hasn’t built one already, right? [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Milwaukee’s State Street was partially blocked off this week as crews shot footage for FX’s Fargo. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• The Milwaukee Art Museum has a new strategic direction—it’s first since 2006. MAM will focus on “community, impact and financial sustainability.” There will be a “Listening Lab” installed in the museum’s Collection Galleries, as well as an internal “reporter” who will “help tell MAM stories.” [OnMilwaukee]
• Harry’s on Brady, 1234 E. Brady St., is closed. A new place, Pete’s Pub, will soon take its place. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• A “Millennial Task Force” will try to figure out how to stop “brain drain” in Milwaukee. Just in time for a generation whose oldest members are pushing 40. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Have a great weekend, Milwaukee!