Summerfest! It runs June 26-30, and July 2-7! Over that 11-day span, approximately 800 acts will perform on 10 stages (not to mention all the side stages). With that much entertainment packed into such a tight window, we understand if you’re stressing about how to Fest to the best of your ability.
In an effort to help you make some potentially difficult Summerfest decisions, Milwaukee Record will offer some Record Recommendations for each and every day of Summerfest, including a suggested headliner, a reason to show up early, a can’t-miss local act, and a tip for a way to have a cheaper and/or better experience. Here are our Record Recommendations for Summerfest Day 10.
HEADLINER
Billie Eilish
7:30 p.m. @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater
Ever go to Summerfest and think to yourself, “Geez, there are a million people here and I’m the oldest one”? You’ll definitely feel that if you hang around the American Family Insurance Amphitheater before the Billie Eilish show. The 17-year-old singer sold out the venue in about 10 seconds. She was born after September 11. Embrace the passage of time, folks. Oh, Eilish’s debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, is very good.
EARLY BIRD
Something To Do
4 p.m. @ Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard
Depending on who you ask, ska on its deathbed. Though some have reduced the once-formidable genre to a cheap punchline, a small-but-passionate guild of musicians with horns and a proclivity for upstrokes are keeping the remaining fans of the world skanking years after ska’s golden era. Among those musicians is the seven-piece Something To Do, who have been playing out since 2003 and show no signs of stopping.
LOCAL
Lauryl Sulfate And Her Ladies Of Leisure
4:30 p.m. @ Klement’s Sausage & Beer Garden Stage
Lauryl Sulfate is a product of dance music and outsider art. A veteran of Madison dance clubs and the scene surrounding Milwaukee’s long-lost art/fashion space Darling Hall, Sulfate developed an adventurous DIY ethos built on club music and the unfettered “just do it” spirit that fuels outsider art and punk rock. Having sat musically dormant after the breakup of an earlier band, Sulfate, with no one to jam with, turned to GarageBand and her bedroom and went to work. Eventually, some friends got wind of what she was working on and got pulled into/entered her orbit; eventually, Lauryl Sulfate And Her Ladies Of Leisure were born.
DEAL/TIP
From noon until 3 p.m., get in free if you’re among the first 1,500 patrons to bring “gently used children’s books with a $10 minimum value” to the Mid Gate Promotions Booth. “Picture books and early readers for children ages birth through 10 are preferred.”