Rotarian Rob Kos, Executive Director of Gathering on the Green, introduces Bob Babisch to the club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bob Babisch, Vice-president of Entertainment at Summerfest, explained that relationship building is key in the music business.  He recounted numerous stories: waiting over two hours with his new boss for Prince (who left before they got even one photo), George Carlin's arrest on stage for the seven words you can't say, and Paul McCartney and his 25 semis full of show paraphernalia, just to name a few.  No wonder Summerfest was rated one of the top 5 music festivals in the United States in 1973.  

 

Babisch shared historical photos of the grounds and pointed out changes made to update the grounds.  Summerfest must continually update styles, rebrand, and remodel so people keep coming back.  The overall goal is to have something for everyone.  Their greatest competition for musical acts is Europe. Summerfest is such a unique venue that they have managed to bring acts that usually fill stadiums.

 

Contracts used to contain riders requiring unusual items like ten pounds of M & Ms, with no brown ones.  Now everybody is macrobiotic. Supplying meals can mean feeding up to 150 or more crew members for top name shows.  

 

So how do they break even?  Sponsors are critical as well as ancillary items like beer and food.  The music festival runs 11 days with 11 stages and somewhere from 850,000 to 1,000,000 people coming through the gates.  He promised that another big name would be announced in the coming weeks.