Today, the Wisconsin State Fair announced it will bring some R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. to this year's headliner lineup, with heartland legend John Mellencamp taking the Main State, presented by Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, on Friday, Aug. 4. An opening act has yet to be announced.
Mellencamp – who last came to Milwaukee in 2015 for a performance at the Riverside Theater – has cultivated an impressive list of beloved rock hits over his decades-long career in the spotlight, including "Hurts So Good," "Jack & Diane," "Pink Houses" and many other compulsively catchy radio classics. His distinct musical style has earned him 22 Top 40 hits in the U.S., as well as 13 Grammy nominations – with one win in 1983 for Best Male Rock Performer for "Hurts So Good" – and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.
In addition to his deep catalog of folksy rock classics, Mellencamp will also take the State Fair's Main Stage with a new album in tow, "Sad Clowns & Hillbillies," releasing on April 21.
Tickets for the show – which include State Fair admission – will be $59 and $49, and will go on sale beginning Friday, Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. at both the Wisconsin State Fair's website and the State Fair ticket office. All seating for the John Mellencamp show will be reserved.
Mellencamp marks the third Main Stage show announced so far for the 2017 State Fair, with the I Love the 90s Tour – complete with Kid 'n Play, Tone Loc and Young MC, and R&B group All-4-One – and Christian pop duo For King & Country also set to headline the festival. Stay tuned to OnMilwaukee for more State Fair acts as they are announced.
The Wisconsin State Fair will run from Thursday, Aug. 3 through Sunday, Aug. 13.
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.
