Every Friday, Stuff We Missed looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for, well, stuff we missed throughout the week.
• By now we all know the story of how Harley-Davidson celebrated its big 100th anniversary in Milwaukee in 2003, and how the company had a big concert in Veterans Park headlined by a big mystery act, and how the city got itself in a big tizzy imagining who that big act would be (The Rolling Stones! Bruce Springsteen! Maybe Aerosmith?), and how the big act ended up being…Elton John.
We all know what happened next: people booed, people left, and people complained. Sure, Elton John was a superstar, but he just wasn’t, um, er, right for the Harley crowd, you know? His image wasn’t quite, ahem, in line with Harley’s, know what I mean? He simply was um, ah, er..
Okay, WTMJ recently unearthed an old broadcast from the infamous concert, and some lady at the 5:50 mark says the quiet part out loud. Why was the Harley crowd so disappointed with Elton John? “He’s too mellow and, I’m sorry, he’s way too gay,” the lady says.
Listen to the full audio retrospective HERE.
Good ol’ fashioned homophobia has always been a part of the Elton John/Harley story, both spoken outright and wink-wink hinted at. (Sample line from an OnMilwaukee review: “Elton John. Elton John? He’s not American, certainly not very manly, and far from hard rock.”) Anyway, Green Day is headlining Harley’s big 120th anniversary party tonight in Veterans Park. Foo Fighters will headline the Saturday show. Maybe Green Day will play this one. [WTMJ]
• Summerfest continues to send cease-and-desist letters to similarly named festivals across the country. Next up in Summerfest’s trademark crosshairs: the Minnesota Twins-hosted “Summer Fest,” a two-day music festival featuring The Killers, Imagine Dragons, The Flaming Lips, and more. [TMJ4]
• Death! Taxes! Widespread Panic playing a three-night stint at The Riverside Theater in October! This year’s takeover is set for October 20-22. Tickets are on sale now. Good luck! [OnMilwaukee]
• Koi Japanese Cuisine, 552 W. Layton Ave., has closed. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Bay View’s Makk’n’Cheese—and that Blind Tiger speakeasy inside it—will close “in the coming months.” A new bar, Pink Agave, will take their place at 2242 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Gray Jett Cafe, a vegan and vegetarian cafe, will open in August in the old Bro-Yo space on the Marquette campus, 1617 W. Wells St. [Marquette Today]
• Sweetgreen, a “farm-to-table fast food” chain, will open its first Wisconsin location at 310 E. Buffalo St. on July 18. [Urban Milwaukee]
• S’Blendid Boba Tea, a boba tea joint (natch), is coming to 2229 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View. [Urban Milwaukee]
• HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND, MILWAUKEE!
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