If you’re going to the Jack White concert in Milwaukee, you won’t have to be annoyed with the person standing in front of you blocking your view with their phone or that people recording aren’t living in the moment. And, if you’re not going to be at the show, you won’t have to deal with your friend’s endless low-quality Snapchat story featuring their terrible scream-singing. But maybe, you will be annoyed that you can’t send a quick text while enjoying the show.

That’s because Jack White is now banning cell phones from all of his non-festival shows, which includes his Friday show in Milwaukee at the Eagles Ballroom.

He put this pop-up message on ticketing websites:

“No photos, video or audio recording devices allowed. We think you’ll enjoy looking up from your gadgets for a little while and experience music and our shared love of it IN PERSON.”

This is part of a growing trend of concerts with no cell phone policies. Some artists, like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Neutral Milk Hotel and Savages have also banned phones at their performances. Even comedians like Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle have had no cell phone policies (though theirs were more about protecting their material from ending up on YouTube).

Last time we saw Jack White in Milwaukee at the Rave in 2014, he politely requested that the crowd keep their phones in their pockets. He introduced the official photographer who would be taking photos that fans would be able to download and share freely after the concert.

That approach worked pretty well and most fans respected it in Milwaukee. But, for this tour, he’s stepping it up anyway.

If you don’t leave it at home or in your car, you’ll need to lock your phone in a Yondr pouch while inside the venue.

The Journal Sentinel piece on Milwaukee’s need for more all-ages venues by Kelsey Kaufmann, Peter Murphy and Nicola Fumo reads:

Due to prohibitive city codes, it is difficult for small Milwaukee clubs to step up and host all-ages or 18-plus shows. Larger venues, like Turner Hall, avoid these rules by being licensed as a “center for the visual and performing arts.” This requires either a stage larger than 1,200 square feet or a collection of art on regular public display that’s been vouched for by “recognized experts or art critics” to a city committee. This keeps virtually all small clubs from hosting all-ages shows.

And, there are the problems of insurance costs and noise and alcohol restrictions. The article continues to argue:

There are plenty of other public spaces that serve alcohol where minors are allowed: hotels, movie theaters, painting studios, even indoor golf facilities. Why can a 20-year-old stand next to someone drinking a beer while they swing a golf club, but they can’t legally stand next to someone drinking a beer while they attend a concert in a venue smaller than Turner Hall?

It’s a great point.

Take IshDARR for example. He’s 21 now and he’s able to draw a Turner Hall-sized crowd, but what about before? At 19-years-old, he was already one of the city’s most popular young artists, but he couldn’t play the Cactus Club-sized shows he should have been playing back then because he wasn’t old enough. And, the young crowds he could have drawn wouldn’t have been able to get in anyway. How is a young music scene supposed to grow in this environment?

IshDARR at Turner Hall in 2017. Photo by Brianna Griepentrog

So, we need to ask: At what point are we, the creatives, going to saddle up next to our political leaders, who are ultimately the ones who can affect this kind of change? Because these prohibitive laws depend on the people we elect—and what we ask of them.

We need to begin an organized effort to make this happen. And it seems like we’ve taken the first step: getting the conversation going.

To keep it going, we need to keep asking: Why is there no one in our city’s or mayor’s offices who is in charge of cultural impact? Why don’t we have an arts representative like other cities do? Why do we have all these prohibitive laws for working musicians?

It’s not this or that—it’s this and that and some other stuff too.

With that, we’re excited about a debate that looks like momentum for a changing and growing music scene in Milwaukee.

For years, Summerfest has been known for playing it safe in its lineup. The acts performing at “the world’s largest music festival” have often catered to an older audience and have excluded a lot of diversity of acts, namely within the hip-hop and EDM genres. But, this year the lineup is different. And it’s about time.

This year, hip-hop at Summerfest goes further than their usual established rappers like Public Enemy or Common, or the amphitheater acts like Kendrick Lamar and Kanye. In 2018, you can see hip-hop acts from J. Cole to Lil Uzi Vert, Logic and GoldLink to Sugar Hill Gang.

EDM is also going to be at Summerfest 2018 in a big way: Cheat Codes, Marshmello, Chromeo, Party Favor and more will be on the ground stages. Props to the big gig for choosing some hard-hitters along with the EDM crowd-pleasers this year.

Photo courtesy of Summerfest

With the addition of these genres and of artists like The Weeknd, Janelle Monáe, Børns, Louis the Child and more, the poster is looking more like a Lollapalooza lineup than a Summerfest one. It seems like they’re finally getting with the times of festival-obsessed millennials and a younger Milwaukee. It is “the people’s festival” after all, and it’s starting to reflect what the people of the city’s younger demographic want.

With that said, it’s much more than a millennial festival. There are still plenty of legends set to perform. Though we’re excited about the fresh additions, there’s no way we’re missing James Taylor, Journey and Def Leppard or Buddy Guy. There are still plenty of classics for boomers and millennials alike.

And that’s what makes Summerfest great: the fact that you can see Lil Uzi Vert and James Taylor in the same festival. This year’s mix of genres and decades of music makes this a great festival for music discovery too, as it should be. There are also a lot of great up-and-comers like Soccer Mommy and MILCK alongside Milwaukee originals like Abby Jeanne and Dead Horses.

We couldn’t possibly write every single artist we were excited to see on this year’s poster, so check out the full lineup here. You won’t be disappointed.

Photo by Daniel Ojeda / Courtesy of Middle West

Bon Iver at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Jordan: What opportunities do you see for Milwaukee’s growth in the near (and far) future from your perspective?

Doug: I think there’s great opportunity in the year 2018 for Milwaukee and national touring acts. There’s a proliferation this year. So we’re getting our just due. Now, we have to sell tickets. And make sure people are coming out to the gig. I think this will expound on itself.

Jordan: What opportunity are we looking at in the future here with a brand new arena now and a more healthy downtown? What about collaboration?

Doug: I think I have a great relationship with Pabst/Riverside/Turner Hall. We did shows with them at the Bradley Center for Bon Iver and Amy Schumer. I’m welcoming everybody to come into these buildings.

Every building, every room has its niche. And finding that niche and working with people to put the right band in the right room—that’s collaboration. Ground zero is downtown. You have the new arena, my three, Pabst/Riverside/Turner Hall, those three—that’s where the epicenter of music is going to come together.

Cancel plans if you need to and drop everything to get to some of these Milwaukee shows this week.

Earth, Wind & Fire

It’s not 1974, but our expectations for this show are still very high. This is more than just a nostalgia tour. Earth, Wind & Fire has lost Maurice White, but they still bring it. Original members Philip Bailey and Verdine White still bring a tremendous energy to the stage. Seeing Earth, Wind & Fire is a bucket list item. You’ll be able to see these sharp performers Friday, March 23 at the Riverside Theater.

David Wax Museum

David Wax Museum is doing some unique, intimate house shows this weekend. The couple, David Wax and Suz Slezak, merged their individual musical tastes—Suz’s Appalachian and Irish influences and David’s Mexican folk—to create David Wax Museum’s distinct “Mexo-Americana” style. They’ll be playing in Milwaukee on the night of Friday, March 23 and in Wauwatosa for a family-friendly matinee show on Saturday, March 24. The addresses of the houses are secret, until you buy your ticket. Get them here.

Alvvays

Alvvays will be playing a show at the Pabst on Saturday night. And, we’ll be hosting the band here at Radio Milwaukee for a studio session at noon before the show. Tune in to 88Nine hear the live session and interview, but also try to get to their show. They are one of our favorites for their dreamy, yet practical lyrics that will have you dancing to their sugary melodies without getting your heads stuck too far in the clouds. Catch the show at The Pabst Saturday, March 24.

Wolf Alice

Wolf Alice is like all the best parts of 90’s grunge made modern. They’ll be rocking the Turner Hall Ballroom on Thursday, March 29. And, they’ll be playing with The Big Pink. Break out your vintage leather jackets.

Jason Mohr (Juniper Tar)

Juniper Tar is back! Well, Jason Mohr is. Eight years ago, he relocated to Denver for a self-described “musical dormancy” period. Now, Jason will be back at the Cactus Club on Thursday, March 29 to share an inspired patchwork collection of new material–portraits of characters, places, scenes, electro-acoustic layers and some Juniper Tar surprises.