6.01.2007

Summerfest countdown!

Aw, the Summerfest schedule is set. 40th anniversary bash here we come!

Kates and I have long had our tickets for Ben Folds and John Mayer at the Marcus on July 3. It’ll be my ninth Ben Folds show (I think ... I'm beginning to lose count), my second for John Mayer, but a first for the Marcus …

Still the real fun, the essence of Summerfest is the ground stages, and I live for the days each spring when the schedules start seeping out. This year I found myself pulling for the Summerfest crew to reel in The Shins (whose album I'm still head over heels for ...), or Guster or Avril Lavigne (also still listening to a lot of her album ...) or even Mute Math. Some I got, others I didn't. Soon enough, the outlines began forming in my head. And eventually the picturer became clear ...

So without further ado my 2007 Summerfest to-do list…

I’m eyeing up O.A.R. on Friday, June 29 ... Saw them for the first time last year. Awesome! Fell in love with their sound and showmanship immediately. I’ve been dying to see them again. Passed on a chance to see them in Milwaukee last fall. But nothing should stop me from seeing them in a few weeks …

On Saturday, June 30, I’ll have to decide between Lindsey Buckingham or the Goo Goo Dolls. Given that I saw the Goo Goo Dolls last summer, and my fascination with Fleetwood Mac, I’ll probably end up at Lindsey Buckingham’s show …

I’ll have another decision to make on Sunday, July 1. Do I go to Summerfest and catch Sister Hazel, or do I stay closer to home and go to our city’s annual Independence Day celebration, where this year, Peter Noone and Barry Williams will be performing? That’s going to be a hard one -- I’ve already seen Sister Hazel twice, and though both shows were good, neither was so captivating that I’m yearning to see them again. Still, just being at Summerfest is enough of a pull for me … Then there’s Peter Noone, whom Kates and I had a blast seeing last February. Pack him with Barry Williams, aka Greg Brady (I’m a huge Brady Bunch fan …) performing at our lakefront park, and that might be enough to snag me … It might be a game-time decision …

I may take or leave Augustana on Friday, July 6. Same with Blue October on Sunday, July 8 …

The big one is going to be Saturday, July 7. Guster … Last year, you might remember, I also pegged Guster as my big one. And instead it was my big bomb. Things didn’t go off as planned that night, I spent much of it tying to locate a friend and by the time the Guster show started, I was so frustrated and fed up with the frat house crowd, I left for some of the other stages a few songs into Guster’s set …

Yet, in the past year, I’ve continued to adore their more recent albums. And in the months since last year‘s Summerfest, I’ve wanted so badly to be redeemed. I had an opportunity to see the Guster boys last fall when they hit Milwaukee again, but it didn’t work out for me to go. In the meantime, I held on to a flicker of hope that they’d be invited back to Summerfest, even while figuring it was a long shot. So, yeah, you can imagine my blissful excitement this spring when I discovered that Guster was indeed returning …

Yep. Summerfest. Bliss.

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