Milwaukee celebrates the Fourth of July today, but last night there was a different kind of celebration at the Briggs and Straton stage among the hustle and bustle of Summerfest and fireworks.

Minnepolis band The Jayhawks – highly regardly as one of the pioneers of alternative country - are in the midst of a reunion of sorts with former member Mark Olson (who left the group in 1995) and even have a new album coming out this fall. Their last Summerfest performance, at least with Olson as member, was around 1995, so there was definitely reason to show up for longtime fans and new fans that never got a chance to see them.

The band wasted little time, digging deep into their four albums between 1986 and 1995 (many coming from standout albums "Hollywood Town Hall" and "Tomorrow the Green Grass") and providing a set worthy of that wait. Most importantly, with Olson rejoining longtime singer/songwriter partner Gary Louris, the two rekindled the magic of their ability to trade vocals and meld their voices in perfect harmony. For me, their harmonies rival or at least conjure thoughts of ones of the Byrds – they're that good. Songs like "Blue" and "Two Angels" used these alt-country drenched harmonies to great emotional effect.

Throughout their history with Olson the band's grew from a country band to incoporating more of a rock sound. Last night's set was a good walkthrough of that history with some songs bathing more in country melodies and some more in rock. The band fired into "Wichita" off their label break-through album Hollywood Town Hall and followed it up with "Two Angels," the latter one of many times Louris broke out his harmonica. The band had to compete early with the fireworks but were commited to winning that battle, sharing some musical explosions throughout the night. While the band doen't go out of it's way to be flashy, the music certainly speaks for itself with great melodies and lyrics.

In addition to Louris proving one half of the band's singing duo, he also certainly knows his way around a fret board of a guitar - first sharing this when he came out during Alejandro Escovedo's set and providing some impressive shredding on songs like "Waiting for Sun" which began with a screeching guitar wail.

Besides the fan favorites the band offered several new songs off their new album "Mockingbird Times," which is set for a release in September. The band has stated that the new album features some similar elements to those on "Tomorrow the Green Grass," which kind of makes sense given the "unfinished business" Louris and Olson feel they have with this band. The songs they previewed for the crowd fit right in with the rest of their work and shows much prosise for the album.

During their performance of "Up Over My Head" Olson and Louris met at the center of the stage to loud ovation from the crowd as the two long-time friends rocked out together. Following Olson did his best rock and roll strutting on stage with a big grin on his face and the band looked to be having a good time back together. They reassured the band they'd be back sooner next time, providing more reason to celebrate.