Arctic Monkeys Set to Headline Summerfest
Arctic Monkeys have joined the lineup of Milwaukee’s multi-day Summerfest, which will take place every day between June 25th and July 6th, with the exception of June 30th. Other new additions to the fest include Lake Street Dive, the Pretty Reckless, Brother Ali, Rick Springfield and Railroad Earth, among others. Previously announced performers include Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Brad Paisley, Outkast, Dave Matthews Band, Mötley Crüe, Fall Out Boy, Paramore and Usher.
See Where Arctic Monkeys’ “Do I Wanna Know” Falls on Our List of 2013’s Best Songs
Arctic Monkeys‘ most recent album, AM, ranked high on Rolling Stone’s list of the 50 Best Albums of 2013, and in February, they won the BRIT Awards for Best British Group and British Album of the Year. While accepting the latter award, main Monkey Alex Turner offered up an impassioned rallying cry for rock & roll. “That rock & roll, it just won’t go away,” he said. “It might hibernate from time to time and sink back into the swamp. I think the cyclical nature of the universe in which it exists demands it adheres to some of its rules. . . Yeah, that rock & roll, it seems like it’s fading away sometimes, but it will never die. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Rootsy soul ensemble Lake Street Dive put out their most recent album, Bad Self Portraits, in February and were featured among Rolling Stone’s 10 Artists You Need to Know. “We came out of the institutional jazz scene,” vocalist Rachael Price told RS. “So it was a mischievous and crazy thing to decide to play three-chord pop. We wanted to make music that would garner younger fans, but we grew up listening to the Beatles and ended up playing music our parents love. We didn’t think about demographics, just ‘let’s play pop.'”
Summerfest was launched in 1968 and now attracts approximately 900,000 concertgoers yearly. This year’s festival features 800 artists playing on 11 stages.