Another Summerfest has come and gone, so once again it’s time for the rundown of everything I saw.
The phrase I keep coming back to when I think about this year’s edition of Summerfest is “competently proficient.” I think a lot of that has to do with what Summerfest is and kind of has been for some time now, which is to say that side-stage headliners are largely made up of nostalgia-driven acts. These artists can reliably fill theaters and large clubs (think The Riverside or Eagles Ballroom) and they mostly know how to please a festival crowd, particularly when competing with 7 other headliners simultaneously. Nothing was outright bad, but nothing was amazing either. It was fine.
Weekend 2, Day 1 (I was out of town for Weekend 1)
DEVO - Uline Stage, 9:30 PM
I have never seen Devo live, and am also not a superfan by any stretch, so I genuinely did not know what to expect going into the show.
Consider me pleasantly surprised.
Despite being a band for more than 50 years, Mark Mothersbaugh & co. still know how to put on a high-energy show that was engaging both visually and musically.
There were costume changes — they went from a more traditional all-black get up to their iconic yellow jumpsuit and energy dome hat and back again throughout the 80-minute set. The music was backed by pop-art/trash culture-inspired images and video clips.
But the real standout was the music. I’ve always thought of Devo as being this wimpy, weirdo synth rock band — and they are that — but it occurred to me that a lot of their music is surprisingly muscular. The songs that featured both keyboards and guitar provided a nice contrast, and the songs that featured guitar prominently — hello, “Uncontrollable Urge” — genuinely rocked. Otherwise I would say the music was dance-punk before such a thing was called that, if that makes sense.
Devo played their two best-known songs — “Girl U Want” and “Whip It” — back-to-back early in the set. They sounded excellent, just like they do on record. In fact, the entire set sounded pristine, and I would say it was the best-sounding show I heard all ‘Fest as far as sound quality is concerned.
This show did not make me want to dive into their back catalogue, but it absolutely earned my respect for Devo as artists. That’s a hard thing to do, especially at Summerfest.
Weekend 2, Day 2
Local H - Miller Lite Oasis Stage, 8:00 PM
Local H feels like a band that should have been bigger than they were (or are now). They normally play 400-ish seat venues, at least when they come around here, so it was surprising to see such a big crowd. And the crowd wasn’t just there to save their seats for Billy Corgan at 10 o’clock.
In short: over the course of 12 songs in one hour, they came, they rocked, and they left.
Normally a two-piece band, Local H took to the stage with two drummers. Perhaps for the occasion of opening for the not-Smashing Pumpkins (or being at a stage far larger than what they normally play) they wanted some extra oomph for the set. It was the equivalent of asking for a live chicken, and I found it mostly just resulted in a cacophony of cymbal crashes and not much else.
Despite that, the music was still pretty goddamn good. They mostly ignored the newer material in favor of proven crowd pleasers. “All The Kids Are Right,” “Eddie Vedder,” “Fritz’s Corner” and “California Songs” were all there. “Hands All The Bible” sounded like it had a wall of guitars even though there was only the one guitar player on stage. The slow-burn jamming on the ten-minute “Buffalo Trace” did not disappoint.
I’m sure a choice cover (Lorde’s “Team,” TV on the Radio’s “Wolf Like Me,” or Britney Spears’ “Toxic” just to name a few) — Local H is an excellent cover band, after all — would have gone over like gangbusters, but, alas, that was not to be. Still, I found no faults with their set. They are usually in the Milwaukee area at least once a year — I will continue to recommend going to see them if you want to see a good hard rock show.
Billy Corgan and the Machines of God — Miller Lite Oasis Stage, 10:15 PM
It seemed like for a little while that Local H might have the bigger crowd, but it did fill in nicely after maybe half an hour. That had as much to do with it not being the Smashing Pumpkins as it does with Corgan’s (earned) spotty reputation as a live act.
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The point of this tour was to celebrate milestone anniversaries for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (30th) and Machina/Machina II (25th), so the set revolved around those two albums for better and for worse.
The hits were all there for Mellon Collie, and they sounded like you would expect them to. “Zero” featured a little tease of hometown heroes Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun.” “1979” got the biggest reaction of the night, though Corgan’s voice showed some wear and tear most prominently for this tune. It was occasionally croaky and less snarly at points throughout the night, but nothing to suggest that he should hang it up.
Billy’s guitar work, however, has not lost a step. The excellent deep cut from Mellon Collie, “Porcelina of the Vast Oceans,” featured an absolutely majestic guitar solo over the course of its ten-minute runtime. Machina II standout “Here’s to the Atom Bomb” also featured some nice guitar work.
As much as the Mellon Collie material worked out great, the same cannot be said for the Machina tunes. The lone single played was “The Everlasting Gaze,” which was fine. But deep cuts like “Heavy Metal Machine” and “Glass and the Ghost Children” completely lost most of the crowd. Of course, Billy Corgan doesn’t give a shit so he soldiered on playing songs that most folks probably didn’t care about.
The 90-minute set was a contrast of some excellent highs and some forgettable lows. In the end, Corgan’s insistence on playing some new material and deep cuts from an album no one bought showed how he can’t get out of his own way sometimes. Case in point, near the end of the show he came out to play “Tonight, Tonight” solo acoustic. It was a beautiful moment, and would have been a perfect ending to a fairly good night. But he insisted on two more songs, a couple of deep cuts.
God damn it, Billy!
But honestly, setlist choices aside, whether touring as the Smashing Pumpkins or something else, Corgan can still deliver the goods when he wants to. The Smashing Pumpkins aren’t one of my favorite bands for nothing, and despite my disappointment with some choices, this show didn’t do anything to dissuade me from wanting to see them again.
Weekend 3, Day 1
MJ Lenderman — Briggs and Stratton Big Backyard Stage, 10 PM
MJ Lenderman was probably the hippest if not biggest act I saw at Summerfest this year. He and his band played either the Vivarium or Turner Hall last summer, so a headlining slot is definitely a step up for him as far as playing Milwaukee is concerned.
Did he live up to the hype? Yes and no.
My first note for the show was that it was lackadaisical, and I meant that as a compliment. (Full disclosure: I actually wrote down “laconic,” which isn’t the right word. I have a bachelor's degree in English, I swear.) This largely held true through the first third or so of the 90-minute set. I am a sucker for pedal steel, particularly in the context of indie rock, so Xandy Chelmis’s playing had me from the start. “Rudolph,” from last year’s excellent Manning Fireworks, had a good groove and ended with a squalling guitar jam.
But then the set just kind of dragged for a while. It was perfect music for drinking beers at a campfire, only the beers and the fire and the conversations were more interesting. “Bark At The Moon” broke down into a feedback-fest that seemed mostly performative. It channeled Jimi Hendrix in a way, only there was no “Voodoo Child” to bring it all back.
Certainly some of the issue is with me — I am not familiar with all of Lenderman’s work, and as much as I like the idea of ramshackle noodling and jamming, it isn’t always my thing. But then again the music just isn’t hook-y enough to command a festival crowd’s attention.
It wasn’t all bad, though. Songs from Manning Fireworks did get some good reactions, with single “She’s Leaving You” a definite highlight. (Bassist Lou Turner filled in nicely for Karly Hartzman’s vocals on the outro to that one) “Knockin’” was particularly rockin’, and “Tastes Just Like It Costs,” the set-ender, managed to channel Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.” (Was it the riffs? The vocals? I don’t know — tell your reviewer to drink less Miller Lite and take better notes.)
(OK, I went back to listen to the song again, and it is definitely the riff. You’re welcome for the basic journalism.)
I think at this point in time, MJ Lenderman’s live work isn’t quite for me, even though I do actually enjoy his live album. Perhaps it’s just a little too laid back — not laconic! — for a Summerfest set, which has been a problem as long as I have been going to Summerfest.
Weekend 3, Day 2
Everclear - Briggs and Stratton Big Backyard Stage 6 PM
Stupid me thought the show started at 6:30, so we ended up missing nearly half of Everclear’s 75-minute set.
No worries, though, as Everclear had plenty of hits left in the tank. Whether or not they sounded like the Everclear of old is up for debate. For the first handful of songs I came down on the side of “no.” It was as if I was watching an Everclear cover band — “AM Radio” didn’t have the “Mr. Big Stuff” sample and therefore wasn’t as good; “El Distorto De Melodica,” a gnarly little instrumental off So Much for the Afterglow, didn’t have the oomph it once did.
Then Art Alexakis spoke about his MS diagnosis from 2019, and how he’s been sober for 36 years. He then acknowledged a lady in the audience who had a sign that read “64 days sober” and offered some words of encouragement before ending with “it’s not bullshit, not a trope. Take things one day at a time.” And suddenly my negative thoughts about the performance melted away.
Everclear was the soundtrack of my high school years because Alexakis’ plainspoken lyrics sometimes felt as if they were written just for me in a way that Nirvana or Pearl Jam lyrics were not. These songs definitely got me through some bad times, and some of them definitely hit a little different as an adult (“I Will Buy You A New Life,” for one).
So what if Art doesn’t sound like he used to? He still clearly loves what he does. Sparkle and Fade and So Much for the Afterglow still rule. The crowd didn’t seem to care too much either, as everyone was dancing, swaying, or singing along. “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Santa Monica” got the biggest cheers, which felt right. They ended the set with a cover of The Vaselines’ “Molly’s Lips,” though Alexakis acknowledged it was the Nirvana version he was going for.
It was a nice little treat. And with all things considered, that’s probably a good way to think of Everclear shows from this point forward.
Fountains of Wayne - Briggs and Stratton Big Backyard - 10PM
Fountains of Wayne have been mostly inactive since 2014. Then co-founder Adam Schlesinger died from Covid in the earliest days of the pandemic. It was fair to think they were truly done as a band at that point.
But then they were randomly announced for Summerfest. What gives?
(I think they might be testing the waters for a future full-fledged tour, but that’s just me speculating)
With the guy from Eve 6 (Max Collins) on bass for Schlesinger, the band hit the stage and got to it with Utopia Parkway highlight “It Must Be Summer.”
I’ve never seen them before but I imagine it was almost like they never left. Chris Collingwood’s vocals sound pretty close to Adam Schlesinger’s, so nothing was too different there. The songs sounded mostly like their album versions, so nothing was off about that either.
Collingwood didn’t talk a whole lot throughout the set, pausing once before a song to say “I love this fuckin’ city,” and once to tease the audience by saying they were definitely the best he’s heard this week. (The last date they played -- the only other US date planned for this year -- was two weeks before.)
It was a no-bullshit hourlong set full of power-pop jams. If you’re familiar with their first few albums, I don’t think you’d have any reason to complain.
“No Better Place,” one of my personal favorites, was played early in the set. The couplet that goes “The bourbon sits inside me, right now I’m a puppet in sway / And it might be the whiskey talking, but the whiskey says I miss you every day” hits just as hard as it did 20 years ago.
“Barbara H,” from their self-titled debut featured some sweet wah-wah guitar. “Hey Julie,” from Welcome Interstate Managers, had the crowd swaying to it’s gentle rhythm.
The end of the set was reserved for the hit singles.
“Radiation Vibe” featured a breakdown of Bad Company’s “Feel Like Making Love” in the middle, which was unexpected. “Stacy’s Mom” got all the phones out, because of course it did. It is certainly their most popular song, but it is far from their best.
“Leave the Biker” is more of a deep cut, but probably still a crowd favorite. It’s a good tune, and I will note here that Chris Collingwood still sung the word “fag,” and that made me irrationally happy. (The titular biker is a bad dude who doesn’t read books, probably has never cried, and uses homophobic slurs. I think it’s okay to say that word in that context.)
“Mexican Wine” and “Sink to the Bottom” closed out the show, and just like that it was over. It was probably the most fun show of the bunch due to the familiarity with the material and the catchiness of the music — every bit as hook-y as Weezer, and lyrics that are a hell of a lot more nuanced, for those unfamiliar with the band.
I’m not sure what the future holds for Fountains of Wayne — it very well could be nothing much. But I’m glad I was able to catch them, even if it was only for an hour.
Social Distortion - Miller Lite Oasis Stage 10:15 PM
Fountains of Wayne wrapped up early, so we were able to catch the last three songs from Social Distortion. One of those songs was “Story of My Life,” so I will consider that a success.
That’s a wrap on Summerfest 2025. It was perfectly fine, and sometimes that’s all you can ask for.
If you’re wondering why there are no bus reports like there were last year, that is because much like the shows I saw, they were competency executed and nothing more. The crowds weren’t liquored up, the music was nothing to write home about, and Fred didn’t nearly kill us (or do any sweet donuts or random U-turns).
As much as it bums me out thinking about how getting older definitely is causing me too enjoy Summerfest less and less every year, I’m still looking forward to it next year.
