Summerfest

Summerfest opened yesterday! Summerfest and I turn 40 this year. Summerfest is a 10 day music festival in Milwaukee, my hometown. I grew up going to Summerfest. I saw many concerts there. From the days before the Amphitheater when the Main stage looked like a side stage I saw groups like Huey Lewis and the News in 1984, the Violent Femmes the same year. My high school band geek friends and I went every year to see a jazz group called Spyro Gyra.

Later I saw groups other groups, Pearl Jam, REO Speedwagon, Bo Deans, Hootie and the Blowfish and many other I cannot recall. My husband and I started going every year to see the musician Pat McCurdy, a Milwaukee native that has somewhat of a cult following. My husband even offered to buy me a ticket to our first Jimmy Buffet concert at Summerfest on our first date.

When I worked in downtown Milwaukee, my husband would meet me for lunch there since it was only a couple of blocks from my workplace and you could get in every weekday from 11am-1pm with a pin you could buy for $1.

So, Summerfest has a special place in my heart and has left me with very special memories. But, I've got to tell you I don't think I like the way Summerfest has grown up. There seems to be more violence there, the crowds are immense. Maybe it's because I haven't been in 8 years. Maybe it's because I'm now a parent and it doesn't look like a place I would want to take my little kids. I don't know maybe I'll change my opinion in a few years. Maybe it's just Summerfest's mid-life crisis

Anyway, Happy 40th Birthday Summerfest. I hope you enjoy many more. Me Too!

~peace