Milwaukee's Music Scene

There are enough times in the course of a week when I am asked, "What's Going on In Milwaukee?" that I feel a post is in order. My first response is usually to direct out-of-towners to the OnMilwaukee.com site. The site is user-friendly and offers some interesting reads, like today's article posted by Drew Olson about the upcoming Tom Petty and the Super Bowl halftime show.

There are a number of smaller venues in Milwaukee which offer great music; it's just a matter of being informed. As far are larger venues go, there is the Bradley Center, Pabst Theater, Riverside Theater, Marcus Amphitheater, Milwaukee Theater, Alpine Valley, US Cellular Arena, Potawatomi Casino and The Rave/Eagles Ballroom. Some have been better than others to bring solid names to Brew City.

Brew City On the Map

Now that we have saved some money by not having to buy those last Green Bay Packers tickets, we can put the Packers loss behind us and buy some summer concert tickets. As I have noted, there are some big acts coming to town. Summerfest just announced two more shows for music fans to look forward to with Rush and Rascal Flatts coming to headline the Marcus Amphitheater in June. Harley Davidson's 105th Anniversary bash keeps getting bigger and better. There are rumors swirling of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers playing Summerfest. They have a tour schedule set on Pollstar with a wide open hole during Summerfest. Remember a few years ago, they played two nights with Pearl Jam. BIG TIME. The other rumor I have heard is that we could MAYBE see a Radiohead date at Alpine Valley this summer. Talk about an awesome show. I must admit I am SO LATE to this Radiohead thing. I never really appreciated just how great their music is. Please accept my late arrival.

Spring and Summer Concert Season Heating Up

In Milwaukee we have started to hear rumblings of summer concerts to look forward to. Most notably is Harley Davidson's announcement that Bruce Springsteen would be coming to headline their 105th Anniversary party August 2008. This concert will be held outside the Summerfest Grounds at the Roadhouse at the Lakefront and will require separate Bruce Springsteen tickets from the official 105th Harley Anniversary ticket. In addition to the Boss, the following acts have been announced:

ZZ Top

Daughtry

The Black Crowes

Dierks Bentley

Peter Frampton

Los Lonely Boys

Blue Oyster Cult

War

Foghat

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Puddle of Mudd

Gary Allan

Buddy Guy

Blind Melon

Cameo

Dr. John

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

The Crave

The Summerfest folks have announced that Rush will be playing the Marcus Amphitheater for one of the nights of the nation's largest music festival. I would suspect more bands to be announced in the coming months. Pollstar reported Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are hitting the road again this summer! Might there be a Summerfest date for Milwaukee. Talk about a hot concert ticket!

Just as people road trip it to Milwaukee in the Summer; I might head out to the Twin Cities to check out the shopping and a concert or two in the summer. My pal at the Twin Cities Tickets blog seems a little down in the dumps with the winter only half way over. Maybe a Petty announcement is just the medicine he needs?

Hannah Montana Tickets Tangible

Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus or whatever her name is is still coming to Milwaukee's Bradley Center Sunday, January 13th. Milwaukee parents with Packers tickets got real lucky when the NFL announced the Green Bay Packers Divisional Playoff game for Saturday, January 12th vs what could have been a disaster having the BIGGEST game during the Hannah Montana concert.

Sometimes we get lucky. The other piece to this puzzle is the fact that the Packers will have an extra days rest on the Cowboys, should the Cowboys and Romo not lose as is the case in my master plan. The Cowboys play Sunday the 13th. Karma...Favre goes to the Superbowl and all of the football gods are aligning to help him along his way.

Getting back to my initial point, Hannah Montana tickets are priced for the Milwaukee show at a tangible $99 and up. I still don't know if I would spend the money to take a finicky 8 year old, but sitting at double digit figures per ticket is manageable for most people. Did you see the PerezHilton.com post with suggestive pictures of our little innocent Miley Cyrus? It's just a matter of time. Teens will be teens.