Best and worst of Summerfest Day 11: The Shins, Mondo Cozmo neatly close out the Big Gig
Summerfest 50 has come to an end.
Before our music team enjoys some well-deserved rest, here’s what we thought of the final day of the festival. The Shins at the BMO Harris Pavilion
It’s been a long and dramatic road for The Shins front man James Mercer. With a rotating cast of musicians filtering in and out of the group’s lineup in its two decades, Mercer has made it clear that his words and musical perspective would be one of the band’s few constants.
Another constant was on display Sunday night at the BMO Harris Pavilion during their headlining set: The Shins live show is still vibrant, playful, emotional and fun.
Letting out a boisterous whistle that rang through the pavilion, Mercer led the current six-piece lineup into the opening “Caring is Creepy.” The first track from the band’s 2001 debut album, “Oh, Inverted World,” lurched with an indie rock passion that would carry the set across the band’s catalog.
“I’m really stoked to see this many people here,” Mercer said. Judging by the hoots, hollers and cheers that greeted the first few notes of most songs, these fans were just as stoked to be there. — Erik Ernst, Special to the Journal Sentinel Chicano Batman at the Johnson Controls World Sound Stage
Chicano Batman took the Johnson Controls World Sound stage Sunday, decked out in their patented old-school tuxedos, to be greeted by a sparse crowd for the final day of Summerfest.
With its uptempo soul-funk sound, Chicano Batman is the band that everyone wishes they had for their wedding or prom. Working from their 2017 album ‘Freedom Is Free,” they got the crowd grooving with “Angel Child,” “Passed You By” and title track “Freedom Is Free.”
Lead singer Bardo Martinez’s energy is ridiculous, especially considering he’s playing the organ, singing and strumming the guitar here and there. Without him, the group wouldn’t have the same appeal. Thankfully, he’s the kind of showman who keeps the crowd intrigued.
As they started to hit older tracks, which are a bit more psychedelic in nature, the crowd grew larger and larger. One of their more popular songs, “Black Lipstick,” was a Summerfest favorite for myself, the growing crowd and everyone walking by. — Damon Joy, Special to the Journal Sentinel Mondo Cozmo at the BMO Harris Pavilion
“We are all systems go,” Josh Ostrander, a.k.a. Mondo Cozmo, said at the top of his set at the BMO Harris Pavilion Sunday night. His words echoed skyward, just as the melody of “Chemical Dream” reverberated through the venue with an electric buzz. “Higher” thundered through his fourpiece backing band.
As a performer, even though his Mondo Cozmo project has yet to release a fulllength disc, Ostrander is a seasoned pro, oozing the confidence of a rock star into the homespun lyrics and organic voice of a folk singer. Across the set, he wove the electric passion of U2, the wisdom (and even a bit of the words) of Bruce Springsteen, and the introspective grit of Bob Dylan, who was playing just over the hill in the American Family Insurance Amphitheater at the same time.
“This one’s for the cheap
seats,” he shouted before a rumbling cover of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony.” The crowd swayed, the sun set in the distance and the music swelled. It was one of those special Summerfest moments. — Erik Ernst
Sometimes it’s the audience that spoils a performance. Other times, like the show we’re about to cover, things are thrown off by tech issues. Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds at the Uline Warehouse
It was a bit of a slow start Sunday night for Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds at the Uline Warehouse.
The soul and funk singer who grew up in Milwaukee chose to let his Seven Sounds band — currently nine musicians — warm up the crowd. Unfortunately, their renditions of the Bar-Kays’ “Let’s Have Some Fun” and “Holy Ghost” suffered from a bit of sloppy misdirection under a funky groove, a symptom of faulty audio monitors that weren’t allowing the musicians to hear what they were playing. But the aural troubles didn’t stop the crowd from dancing in the bleachers and the stands.
When Scales took the stage 20 minutes into the set, dressed in a black fedora and shimmering blue sport coat, the fans chanted his name as the horn line blared. Scales strutted and grunted as he sang the lyrics to an extended jam on James Brown’s “The Payback.”
Scales might not be The Godfather of Soul, but for one evening this crowd made him feel like Milwaukee’s soul king.