Again, it should be noted these are only speculations based on current tour schedules. This is not an official lineup or festival announcement.

Okay, it’s time to get wildly speculative again. Both Summerfest and the Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Complex have announced concerts like crazy within the past month, but there are still four open American Family Insurance Amphitheater headlining spots to be announced as of Tuesday afternoon, and we might as well see who could potentially fill those spots.

To start, let’s look at our January guesses, and where they’ve ended up:

Paul McCartney / Rolling Stones: Still on the table, but still doubtful
Elton John: Announced his farewell tour at the Wisconsin ESC.
Eminem / The Killers/ Jack White: Eminem and The Killers will be in Europe, and Jack White announced a tour date on April 20th at The Rave.
Justin Timberlake: Announced a “Man Of The Woods” tour date at the Wisconsin ESC.
Kendrick Lamar: Nothing announced past May 20th…. on the table?
Migos: Likely in Europe
Kanye West: Has to get off of that mountaintop in Wyoming some time…
MGMT: Will be touring in Chicago at the beginning of March, but in Europe around Summerfest.
Interpol: Also will be in Europe during Summerfest.
Fall Out Boy: Nothing from May 2nd-August 24th on their schedule, but Wrigley Field on September 8th. (sad trombone)
Camila Cabello: Announced her first tour and a show at The Riverside Theater on April 21st.
Scotty McCreery: Nothing during Summerfest, but an Aurora, IL date in late March. Doubtful.
Meghan Patrick: Only Canadian dates on June 14th and August 2nd. We’re kinda close to Canada?
Loretta Lynn: Doubtful, due to health concerns.

That being said, the best looking prospects of those names are Kendrick Lamar, Fall Out Boy, and Scotty McCreery. But luckily, a whole bunch of new names recently announced tours that could touch down at The Big Gig:

The Smashing Pumpkins reunion tour doesn’t begin until July 12th in Glendale, and has a Chicago date on August 13th. A warm up show doesn’t sound too far out of the realm of possibility, but I don’t see it happening. Speaking of warmup shows, Radiohead begin their recently announced tour on July 7th in Chicago. Conveniently, July 3rd and 6th are open dates remaining at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater. We can dream, right?

Post Malone and 21 Savage just announced tour dates for the “Beer Bongs and Bentleys Tour”, which comes to Chicago on June 5th. Those dates wrap up on June 24th in San Francisco, though, and could feasibly make it (with production trucks) back to Milwaukee in early July for an added date. It might be a stretch, but it’s not impossible at this point, especially if they announce an additional leg of the tour.

Elsewhere, The Neighbourhood will be ending their tour on June 27th in Cincinnati as it stands currently, so it’s completely feasible that they may make their way back to Milwaukee, which isn’t on the current tour route. They may not play the Amphitheater, but you may be able to catch them on the grounds somewhere during the festival. Belle and Sebastian also currently wrap up a tour in Portland on June 30th, and could make a festival appearance on the back half of Summerfest’s 2018 dates, as well. Slightly Stoopid also have a gap in their tour from July 1st in Houston to July 6th in Garrettsville, OH. Is Milwaukee filling in that gap when the ground stage headliners are announced?

With more and more artists announcing tour dates, the pieces of the puzzle that is Summerfest are starting to come closer together. Until the lineup drops in late March or early April, we’ll have to keep speculating. Who do you want to see at Summerfest this year?

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