Milwaukee goes by a few different names: The Cream City, The Brew City, and during summer time, The City of Festivals. And one festival above all the others has given Milwaukee that title: Summerfest. Summerfest is an eleven-day music festival held on the shores of Lake Michigan just steps from Milwaukee’s downtown. Every year it brings in nearly one million visitors with promises of great music, cold beer, excellent food, and one of the biggest and the best parties in the nation. It never fails to deliver. This blogger and other bloggers seem to agree. Word of mouth marketing is all this festival needs.
Music
Tailgating Goes Country: It’s Not Just for Football Anymore
If you’re like most people, when you hear tailgating you think of the pre-game party that takes place in the parking lots of stadiums across the country. But tailgating is not restricted to just football games. It’s a lifestyle that can extend into any event or social gathering.
Typically, tailgating is the prequel to a major sporting event. Most people don’t even think to link tailgating to concerts or other live events. If you haven’t tailgated at a country music concert, you don’t know what you’re missing.
The best part about tailgating at a country music concert is the feeling in the atmosphere. Sure, anticipation is high before a sporting event but sports fans feel an array of emotions on game day: nervousness about whether your team will be able to pull off the big win, bitterness toward a rival team, and the dread that if, heaven forbid, your team loses and your entire week is inevitably ruined.
Beach Boys are Surfin’ USA 50 years later
One legendary group that has reunited that truly calls for a celebration is The Beach Boys. The band not only helped define not just American popular music in the 1960s, but also created several distinct sub-genres of music in the process. They are one of the most beloved bands in music history with a string of hits spanning four decades. And next week they will embark on a 50th anniversary tour that starts after recording a charity single for the Earthquake/Tsunami relief effort for Japan. They still even have a significant facebook following and are mentioned constantly on social media.
After a few festival dates and a surprise appearance at the 2012 Grammy Awards, the group has booked a full-fledged 50 date American tour. The core of the reunited group features mostly original members including mastermind Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks. They are even releasing a new CD later this year! This is already one of the hottest tickets for this spring and summer, so you better get those tickets soon and start planning for the pre-show party Surfin Safari style.
If you are going to one of these dates, it is sure to be a night to remember. Videos of the group show them to be in terrific form and sounding a sweet as ever vocally. Why not do it up the tailgating with style and panache and really get into the spirit of the show.
Parrotheads In The Parking Lot
Jimmy Bufett’s musical career hasn’t always been about island sunsets and frozen drinks. During the late 60′s he was actually a country artist and released folk rock records. He could often be found busking, playing on the street for money, in New Orleans.
Almost five decades later Buffett has become a musical icon, selling out just about every venue he plays. He has eight gold records and nine platinum or multi-platinum records to date. People from California to Boston all know this southern treasure.
He even has his own wildly-devoted fan base, nicknamed, parrotheads. The term first came into use during a 1985 show at King’s Island Amusement park near Cincinnati, Ohio. During the show, Buffett commented on everyone’s attire, Hawaiian shirts and parrot hats and how the same people kept coming back to see him, like deadheads. Buffett attributes a lot of his success to the loyalty of fans in that area of the country.
Parrotheads In Paradise is by far the largest parrothead institution. It has 246 chapters, including some in Australia and Canada. It’s membership hovers just under 30,000.
“Someone once said that parrotheads are just deadheads with jobs and frequent flyer miles,” said Wayne Myers, former social director of the Atlanta chapter of Parrotheads In Paradise.
Atlanta is the birthplace of the Parrotheads In Paradise club. It’s founding was based on the principal of “partying with a purpose.” To this day all PhIP clubs are largely involved with communitiy service.
Blast from the past: Disco Demolition Night
There are many things that pair nicely with tailgating: beer, grilling over an open flame, sharing good times with family and friends, and enjoying the outdoors. But if there is one thing that doesn’t mix well with tailgating, it’s disco. And for that, ATA will always remember one fateful day more than 30 years ago in Chicago. Not that we condone violence, mind you.