Bleachers play a pretty big part in Summerfest. We sit on them to get off our feet between bands. We use them as makeshift tables where we can set down our festival food. We use them as rendezvous points when making plans to meet with friends and work associates. We stand on them for an hour straight when the headliner takes the stage so we can get a slightly better view.
These long and sturdy metallic amenities are never more present in Milwaukee’s collective mindset than they are during Summerfest’s nine-day run. This year, bleachers will play an even bigger part in “The World’s Largest Music Festival” because Bleachers—the excellent indie pop project of award-winning producer, Fun. drummer, and frequent Taylor Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff—will be performing at Summerfest during The Big Gig’s first weekend. Yes, there will be people on bleachers to see Bleachers.
Yesterday, as an indirect means of preparing festival-goers for tonight’s Bleachers show, we walked around the entirety of the Summerfest grounds to document, evaluate, and rank the bleachers at each stage. We’ve omitted grounds stages that don’t have bleachers to save you time and scrolling, and we’ve also left off the American Family Insurance Amphitheater because Milwaukee Record isn’t big enough to get media credentials for that part of Summerfest. Okay, let’s rank some bleachers before we see Bleachers!
8. Northwestern Mutual Community Park
Pros: It’s a small stage that doesn’t require much seating, and there are lots of new picnic tables on site.
Cons: There just aren’t that many bleachers here.
7. Gruber Law Offices SportsZone
Pros: Usually lots of available seating. Elevated for higher vantage point. Near a ton of good food and beer options.
Cons: Unless you’re there to see BMX stunts, wrestling, or that college shootout thing, you’re unlikely to see much happening in terms of entertainment while sitting on these bleachers. Certainly not in terms of music, at least.
6. Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard
Pros: Kind of tucked away from much of the activity in the middle of the grounds. Near the Major Goolsby’s stand. It’s relatively easy to get a beer quickly by these bleachers.
Cons: It’s apparent the Briggs stage isn’t the top priority of Summerfest, as the number of bleachers is pretty modest compared to other “big” grounds stages. It seems like these bleachers are older, rustier, and covered in more old bird poop than bleachers at other comparable stages.
5. Generac Power Stage
Pros: There’s a veritable sea of metal bleachers here. They’re separated in the middle by barricades, which keeps things controlled and makes finding your group (“we’re on the left side, halfway to the stage”) easier.
Cons: Like the Miller Lite Oasis Stage, the Generac Power Stage is one of the stages that’s situated very close to 794, which can be distracting at times. Plus people on the bleachers have to face west to see performers, meaning the sun is in their eyes and beating down on them at certain points of the day. That’s more of a stage critique than bleacher commentary, but still!
4. Miller Lite Oasis Stage
Pros: There’s a veritable sea of metal bleachers here. They’re separated in the middle by barricades, which keeps things controlled and makes finding your group (“we’re on the right side, halfway to the stage”) easier.
Cons: Like the Generac Power Stage, the Miller Lite Oasis Stage is one of the stages that’s situated very close to 794, which can be distracting at times. Plus people on the bleachers have to face west to see performers, meaning the sun is in their eyes and beating down on them at certain points of the day. That’s more of a stage critique than bleacher commentary, but still! These bleachers narrowly edge out Generac due to their proximity to the Saz’s stand.
3. UScellular Connection Stage
Pros: There’s a lot of bleacher real estate here and some of them are blue, which is neat. There’s a nice view of the city and the bleachers are near both the lake and the festival’s only dedicated wine bar. And what’s with those tiny bleacher rows off to the side? Cute!
Cons: We can’t really think of anything. Other than being on the small-to-mid size, this is pretty much the definition of an upper-tier bleacher situation. There are better options, but not many.
2. Uline Warehouse
Pros: These bleachers are only flanked by one other stage, which limits audio bleed-in from elsewhere. They offer a great view of Milwaukee’s downtown. They’re right on the water and cozy. The bleachers themselves, though lower in volume than most other primary stages, are (mostly) well-maintained.
Cons: This.
1. BMO Pavilion
Pros: Everything! There’s a high volume of these bleachers, they’re near the water, they’re entirely covered, they’re located near their own bathrooms and beer stand, and we’d guess these are some of the newest bleachers on the festival grounds. Check out those backrests! Fancy.
Cons: Nothing. It was always going to be the BMO Pavilion. We just didn’t realize it until we went there yesterday to compile these rankings.