In case you missed the memo, Summerfest starts tomorrow.

Milwaukee's 11-day celebration of music, beer, picnic table dancing and fried mozzarella sticks has created a buzz in the community for weeks. The opening concerts by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Pearl Jam will be the biggest shows in the history of the Marcus Amphitheater and a strong side stage lineup could lead to big attendance throughout the entire run at Henry Maier Festival Park.

As the countdown to Summerfest 2006 headed into the final stretch, we sat down with Don Smiley, the festival's president and chief executive officer, and Bob Babisch, the vice president of entertainment, for the following Milwaukee Talks interview:

OnMilwaukee.com: There seems to be a significant buzz about Summerfest this year and I have a theory that I'd like to bounce off you. We've generally had warm, pleasant weather this spring. People have been in "summer" mode for a couple of weeks. In other years, when the weather is crappy, it seems like the festival sneaks up on people. It's like they say, "Oh, yeah, I guess Summerfest starts on Thursday." This year, for the past couple of weeks, I've heard people talking about it and looking forward to it. Am I crazy, or is the nice weather a factor?

Bob Babisch: I think that might have a little to do with it. But, I think the biggest thing is the way we announced our lineup this year. In the past, in February and March, we'd say "Here is an amphitheater show. Here is another amphitheater show. Here's another amphitheater show…" We just threw them out as we got them, and people would say "Well, there is no minority show again," or "This is getting kind of old."

This year, every time we announced a couple amphitheater shows, we announced some acts on the side stages. "Here is bam, bam, bam, bam on the Summerfest grounds." We'd say the next week, "Here is Tom Petty and Pearl Jam, but we've also got Elvis Costello and this and this and this…" We kept throwing them out at the same time. I think people kept looking and saying "Wow, this is strong." The names for the smaller stages were out this year earlier than ever before. In the past, we kept them until we had them all done. Then we'd say "OK, here is the Miller Stage, here is the Harley Stage. We'd do it day by day.

"I think people realized, "Hey, there is a lot of stuff coming." The buzz kept building, because we would announce an amphitheater show and we would put the Wilcos and bands like that out there, too.

Don Smiley: We used to keep all that stuff (about the side stages) a secret. You didn't get that ramp up to it.

OMC: Do you sense more of a buzz around this year's festival?

Babisch: There is a good energy. A lot of it is how the holidays fall. I've been watching this for 28 years. It's interesting watching how the cycle goes, when the third and fourth (of July) fall. This year, the Fourth of July is a Tuesday. Everybody is taking off on Monday the third. That means that Sunday and Monday are going to rock for us.

I bet everybody has got off Monday. Actually, me and Don are taking off, too. We're going fishing that day (laughs).

OMC: I know how crazy things can get at my house in the final hours before a holiday dinner or a backyard barbecue. How crazy are the final hours before you guys open the gates? Is it insane?

Babisch: It's insane, and it's the anticipation of rolling into it. You get that anticipation. You're dying to get it going. Building it up is one thing. You go through April, May and June and it's OK. By Tuesday or Wednesday, you just want to hear the first band on stage and start to roll.

Smiley: This is a veteran staff here. There is not a lot of… let's just call it organized confusion. There is not the confusion you'd have with an inexperienced staff. There is not a lot of craziness. It's more an anticipation, and knowing that you're going to have 11 days of a lot of people down here with a lot of noise. We make big noise.

Babisch: That should be our motto next year.

Smiley: We make big noise.

OMC: What is your favorite part of this job?

Smiley: One of my favorites is just seeing that amphitheater just fill up.

Babisch: Bingo.

Smiley: You know you've got something special going on when the grounds stages are also full up and rocking.

OMC: Is that the first day of the festival?

Smiley: Given the way Bob booked the amphitheater this year, it will be the first day because Bob booked Tom Petty and Pearl Jam in there and every last seat will be gone.

Bob: There is something about the energy of 23,000 people jumping at the same time and the lights go down. Especially when it's dark in there. You can feel the hair stand up on the back of your arms. The energy level is as good as it gets.

OMC: Well, that's the high point. Is there a point in the festival when you hit a wall and start dragging?

Babisch: You've got to pace yourself. I always wonder when my nap is coming. Around day four or day five, that couch (in my office) starts getting a workout.

OMC: How much sleep do you guys get during the festival?

Babisch: We get home about 2 or 2:30 in the morning. Then we're back at it about 8 in the morning. That's the way it starts out. When you get toward the end of the festival, you're coming in at 9 a.m., and the phone isn't ringing like it was. Nobody calls you any more. It's not as bad as you might think. If we could only stop watching the Weather Channel. I'm addicted to that.

Smiley: Not me.

OMC: Well, you come from running a baseball team in South Florida. The Marlins play 81 games a year and it rains almost every day between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Babisch: (laughing) That's the first thing he said. Weather never bothered him the first year. The rain never bothered him.

Smiley: I'm used to 81 nights, pounding our heads against the wall. It isn't funny about the weather there. They freak out about. It's certainly not good for concession sales.

OMC: I don't remember as much discussion about an amphitheater show as the Petty / Pearl Jam dates at the front end of this festival. How does it rate in comparison to other shows?

Bob: This will be the biggest show in the history of the amphitheater. We've done other shows -- Pearl Jam has played in the amphitheater before, but weren't selling all the lawn. This is the biggest ticketed show in the history of the building. Not just Summerfest, but for the whole building.

(Editor's note: At this point in the discussion, Babisch's cell phone rings and a Johnny Cash song plays).

Smiley: Turn it off, Mr. High Tech.

Babisch: It's nothing important.

OMC: Well, Petty and Pearl Jam did give you a jump start, right?

Babisch: What I'm most excited about is that there is a lot of good stuff on the grounds this year. Having Petty and Pearl Jam is nice, but that's over after the second day. We've got a lot of great music this year. You go to the thing with CMT (Country Music Television), with (Lynryd) Skynyrd and Hank (Williams) Jr. and Dierks Bentley. You go to the Classic Rock Stage where we've got them all, Foreigner, Styx and REO (Speedwagon). You've got Chris Brown, Anthony Hamilton. You've got Common.

Smiley: We've got the gospel celebration.

OMC: Yes, you've got that and Elvis Costello on the Briggs Stage. You've got the BoDeans and Wilco on the Miller Stage…

Babisch: We've got those shows and one of my favorite bands, Train, is going to be on that stage.

OMC: We did a Milwaukee Talks interview with Steve "Saz" Sazama earlier this year, and he said one of the changes he's noticed in three decades in the restaurant / bar business is that pricing isn't as important as it used to be. He said that if his tap beer cost a dime more than the bar down the street, people would head for the bargain. Today, he sees young people with ATM cards who don't hesitate to spend big money on martinis, mojitos and Jaeger bombs. Do you find a similar attitude, or is price point a bigger deal for you in this business? Is there are point where you can't raise prices any more?

Babisch: I think that the admission ticket is a bigger trauma for people than beer prices, because you can always not drink a beer. That being said, you can still get into this place for free just about every day.

Smiley: On prices, the baseline was so low given what we do here and the cost of content, there is just no way you can continue to charge what people have come accustomed to over the years. Mathematically, it doesn't work.

OMC: Yes, an $8 ticket to see Elvis Costello would be pretty absurd.

Bob: An $8 ticket to see any band. These acts on the second stages now are going well over 50 grand a night. If you want to keep the talent up, you've got to raise the ticket prices. I think people are fine with that, as long as the shows are good. If you stop bringing that kind of talent in, people say the talent is no good and they won't want to come.

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11 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by OMCreader on July 6, 2006 at 3:43 a.m. (report)

FUMKE said: “I think people realized, “Hey, there is a lot of stuff coming.” The buzz kept building, because we would announce an amphitheater show and we would put the Wilcos and bands like that out there, too. - That part of the interview sounded like Bush or Cheney talking about something they have no idea what they are talking about other than what they've been briefed on. It's WILCO not the WILCOS and when you pluralize band names like that you sound like an out of touch geezer trying to be hip. CMT partnering with Summerfest is about the worst possible thing to have happened. Next year they'll have Nascar at the Marcus and then the year after that it will be Klan rallies.

Posted by OMCreader on June 28, 2006 at 5:44 p.m. (report)

CLAP_YOUR_HANDS said: SOME of the bands are playing...some...only some...big deal. But, it's the world's largest music festival, not a rock show...so there you go...now go listen to good music!

Posted by OMCreader on June 28, 2006 at 1:14 p.m. (report)

RE said: Who cares if Rolling Stone overlooked us? That is the same magazine that gives 4 stars to Britney Spears. By the way some of the bands at the "hipper" fests are playing at Summerfest as well.

Posted by OMCreader on June 28, 2006 at 12:38 p.m. (report)

the truth said: Once again we need to ask...where the hell is the interview with Doug Johnson?

Posted by OMCreader on June 28, 2006 at 11:52 a.m. (report)

missing the obvious said: i agree, nice interview. i do think as a whole, the festival is up this year. one thing i can't understand though is why they don't have a full festival pass available, like other music festivals. i mean, they even said, "Smiley: It’s different for us. We don’t have group tickets. We don’t have season tickets to rely on. The only question mark with us is walkup." if a person could conceivably spend $165 going for all 11 days, why not sell a full-fest pass for $150 good for one entry per day. that one seems a no-brainer.