lenneth
07-05-2005, 07:23 PM
Summerfest (http://www.summerfest.com) is a week and a half long music festival (claiming to be the world's largest musical festival) held every year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in late June, early July. This year was my second time going, and its really a great experience. If you are ever in the area, or looking for a vacation, I really recommend coming up to Summerfest.
Last year I saw Rufus Wainwright and Ben Folds play. Its $12 to get onto the Summerfest grounds, and free to see anyone play at the various stages they had set up. So basically I paid $12 to see both of them play.
This year a friend and I got Stevie Nicks tickets. She played on the Summerfest grounds but in the Marcus Ampitheater, where all the big acts usually pay. We got our tickets about 5 hours before hand online for $60 a piece. Actual ticket costs were $40, but there were random service fees and charges added, plus a few bucks since we got them sent online. However with these tickets we got into the grounds for free. So take off $12 for my friend and I off that total.
At the Stevie Nicks concert, Vanessa Carlton opened, which I didn't even remember reading about when I got the tickets. She was surprisingly good for a "typical pop star", I guess. Her voice was amazing live (and sounded the same as her actual recorded songs), which can't be said for a lot of mainstream acts. She cracked a few jokes here and there, and played some nice piano.
Stevie Nicks then came out to play. My friend and I are 19 and 18 respectively, so I have no doubt that we were probably among the youngest people there. It felt like I had walked into the 80's when I came into that place, but that was half the fun. It was like seeing everybody's mom's and dad's dancing around like they would've had when they were teens. I really enjoy Stevie Nicks and she was great live. The atomosphere of the place was great also. We did have to leave a little early so we could try to get up close to see Ben Folds.
Now, since Ben Folds was at a different stage this year, I was hoping maybe there'd be a little bit more room. I thought wrong. It was absoultely packed, front to back and around a beer stand with people ready and waiting for Ben Folds. I didn't get a good look at him, but I was close enough to hear him play decently. He played a few of his newer songs (Landed, You to Thank, Jesusland), and then did a rock/fast version of Gracie Girl, which he called the "Miller Version" (He was on the Miller Oasis Stage). I really enjoyed that. He went back to some older songs then, making sure to get in crowd favorites like Army, Philosophy, Zak and Sara, Where's Summer B.? and others like Evaporated, Gone, Losing Lisa, and Still Fighting it.
All in all, Stevie Nicks was great (at least what we saw of her), and Ben Folds was amazing as usual. They need to fix his sound system and give him a better stage, though. I wouldn't doubt he got more people there to listen to him than Stevie Nicks did (We did get front row seats in the 2nd section back, right in the middle for her concert only a few hours before). I'm hoping to see Ben Folds play again at a better venue, so the sound isnt so crap, and so I could actually see him play. Half the fun is watching him get the crowd going while he goes crazy on the piano.
Last year I saw Rufus Wainwright and Ben Folds play. Its $12 to get onto the Summerfest grounds, and free to see anyone play at the various stages they had set up. So basically I paid $12 to see both of them play.
This year a friend and I got Stevie Nicks tickets. She played on the Summerfest grounds but in the Marcus Ampitheater, where all the big acts usually pay. We got our tickets about 5 hours before hand online for $60 a piece. Actual ticket costs were $40, but there were random service fees and charges added, plus a few bucks since we got them sent online. However with these tickets we got into the grounds for free. So take off $12 for my friend and I off that total.
At the Stevie Nicks concert, Vanessa Carlton opened, which I didn't even remember reading about when I got the tickets. She was surprisingly good for a "typical pop star", I guess. Her voice was amazing live (and sounded the same as her actual recorded songs), which can't be said for a lot of mainstream acts. She cracked a few jokes here and there, and played some nice piano.
Stevie Nicks then came out to play. My friend and I are 19 and 18 respectively, so I have no doubt that we were probably among the youngest people there. It felt like I had walked into the 80's when I came into that place, but that was half the fun. It was like seeing everybody's mom's and dad's dancing around like they would've had when they were teens. I really enjoy Stevie Nicks and she was great live. The atomosphere of the place was great also. We did have to leave a little early so we could try to get up close to see Ben Folds.
Now, since Ben Folds was at a different stage this year, I was hoping maybe there'd be a little bit more room. I thought wrong. It was absoultely packed, front to back and around a beer stand with people ready and waiting for Ben Folds. I didn't get a good look at him, but I was close enough to hear him play decently. He played a few of his newer songs (Landed, You to Thank, Jesusland), and then did a rock/fast version of Gracie Girl, which he called the "Miller Version" (He was on the Miller Oasis Stage). I really enjoyed that. He went back to some older songs then, making sure to get in crowd favorites like Army, Philosophy, Zak and Sara, Where's Summer B.? and others like Evaporated, Gone, Losing Lisa, and Still Fighting it.
All in all, Stevie Nicks was great (at least what we saw of her), and Ben Folds was amazing as usual. They need to fix his sound system and give him a better stage, though. I wouldn't doubt he got more people there to listen to him than Stevie Nicks did (We did get front row seats in the 2nd section back, right in the middle for her concert only a few hours before). I'm hoping to see Ben Folds play again at a better venue, so the sound isnt so crap, and so I could actually see him play. Half the fun is watching him get the crowd going while he goes crazy on the piano.