Save Your Money, Don't Go to the Show

I spent the weekend down in Milwaukee for Summerfest. The trip was a lot of fun, although the fest itself was somewhat of a disappointment. I planned to go Thursday through Saturday to see Rise Against, The Offspring, and Barenaked Ladies, but ended up only going on Thursday for Rise Against. The festgrounds are huge, but at least there are a lot of places to get food and water unlike some other fests I've been to. And every year Summerfest boasts an impressive line-up--but that's where the positives stop.

As a venue, Summerfest is the worst I've ever been to. Several stages had benches all the way up to the front of the stage, and everyone stood up on those benches during the shows. This meant that the only people who had any chance to even see the stage where those standing. It also meant fewer people who could fit into the same sized space. Most importantly, it meant that there was no moshing or dancing of any kind. Just half-assed hops on the benches, which were claimed early on so the only people who could watch the bands where those who'd been guarding them the past six hours. To quote Rise Against's lead singer Tim McIlrath, nobody should have to spend a Rancid show on fucking benches. And the same goes for openers Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against themselves. These are not sit-down bands. These are get sweaty bands.

But if anything, the show at least increased my respect for Rise Against. They put on an amazing show despite the venue, and McIlrath denounced the benches and the changing, corporate-sponsored face of Summerfest from the "Harley-Davidson Roadhouse" stage. (I'm probably misquoting here) "This isn't about motorcycles, or beer companies, or the fucking military recruitment booth that's trying to send you off to war. This is about music." If only it were true--maybe if I'd been a hardcore enough fan to spend the whole night staking out a place on the benches, I wouldn't have felt this way, but I could never find a place in the crowd where I felt like I was experiencing the concert. And that's not how a person should feel watching their favorite band.

I ended up bailing out of the crowd altogether and sat back with Melissa and Sarah, watching it all on the large screen. Like I said, they put on a great show nonetheless, but the Summerfest experience left me feeling empty. If I'm going to end up watching the performance on a screen, there's no point in paying $15 to park and $10 on food and drinks at Summerfest when I could just as well stay home and do the same more comfortably. It simply wasn't worth our time to go back.

That being said, the highlight of the day ended up coming after Summerfest. Sarah took us to the Safehouse, a spy-themed Milwaukee bar that wins the "coolest place ever" award. We didn't know the password, so we had to prove our secret agent status to get in--but I won't say anything more about that. It's something that needs to be experienced (like a great concert). We explored the bar (it's surprisngly large) and even found a secret exit (not to mention the best vodka lemonade I've ever had). If you ever find yourself in Milwaukee in the summer, skip Summerfest, but don't even think about skipping the Safehouse.

We spent most of the rest of our time in Milwaukee just enjoying the fact that we didn't have anywhere to be--we watched the first 5 or 6 episodes of Dexter and still haven't decided what we think of the show (but we can't stop watching). We tried to stop at a cafe just down the block from Sarah's apartment, but they were just closing as we got there. All in all, Milwaukee was a good time--just not for the reasons I'd expected it would be.