The following is a brief look, in no particular order, at some of the best outdoor music venues to experience in Wisconsin. While literally hundreds of venues exist throughout the state, those included below are by and large some of the most prominent—those venues that have historically attracted big names and provide the capacity for large crowds, as well as those that have the most to offer, both aesthetically and in pure head-banging fun.

Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy
Alpine Valley, with its nearly 40,000 seats, is generally considered both one of the best and biggest venues in the entire country. Launched in 1977, Alpine Valley’s location was chosen because of its surroundings, as the hilly terrain forms a natural amphitheater. Alpine Valley also has the best of both worlds—it is surrounded by uninhabited land as far as the eye can see but is within easy driving distance from Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago. Alpine Valley brings in handfuls of big names season after season, but is most famous for its relationship with The Grateful Dead, who played Alpine more than 20 times. Other famous acts that have performed at Alpine Valley include Korn, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and Kiss. General manager Dave Shaw said his best memory of Alpine Valley really shows how much musicians love playing there. “It came in my very first show, which was also Phish’s last show there,” Shaw said. “They were crying as they left the stage.” The venue is often mentioned in conversation about blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, whose helicopter crashed into a hill within the Alpine Valley property shortly after he played a concert there in 1990.

Hodag Country Festival Grounds, Rhinelander
The Hodag venue is vacant much of the season, but when it hosts the annual Hodag Country Festival, it pulls in 20,000 to 25,000 music lovers in just a couple of days. The venue’s name, Hodag, derives from a fictional animal, sort of a dragon-ox mix, said to be living in the woods in and around the Rhinelander area. The Hodag Country Festival Grounds are located on hundreds of acres of farmland, which is also used as the site for the Oneida County Fair each year. Since 1981 the venue has also hosted an annual band contest, where bands fight for the title of “Wisconsin State Country Band Champions.” Scores of famous country music legends have played the Hodag Festival Grounds: Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Tammy Wynette, Alan Jackson and Kenny Rogers. Dawn Eckert, co-owner of the grounds, said that music isn’t the only draw of the venue. “It is located in the beautiful Wisconsin northwoods,” she said, “and many of our patrons plan their summer vacation around our venue, taking advantage of what the north has to offer at the same time.”

Photo courtesy of Ty F. Webster, Trempealeau Hotel
Families and friends enjoy the personal and scenic Trempealeau Hotel, set on the banks of the Mississippi River, while jamming to numerous artists at the annual Reggae Sunsplash.

Trempealeau Hotel, TrempealeauThe Trempealeau Hotel, with its capacity of about 2,500, is the smallest venue included here, but its history and beauty make up for its lack of size. A 19th century Methodist cleric, Reverend D.O. Van Slyke, went so far as to publish his belief that the city was the real location of the Bible’s Garden of Eden. The hotel itself, which attracts both regional and national talent, was one of the few buildings to survive a Trempealeau fire in 1888 and has been a staple of the community ever since. The hotel’s owner for the past 22 years, Jim Jenkins, said its biggest appeal is its proximity. “It’s located right on the banks of the Mississippi River. It’s such as beautiful place,” he said. “And it’s a very intimate setting, so the people who want to get close to the stage can do that pretty easily.” Every year the Trempealeau Hotel hosts two big music festivals, Reggae Sunsplash and Bluesbash. It has also been home to many famous acts like Arlo Guthrie, Kansas, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Steppenwolf and the Marshall Tucker Band.