Photo credit: Summerfest
For frequent Milwaukee concertgoers there are few pleasures more rare, more satisfying than an extremely slow day at Summerfest. I exaggerate, of course, but what’s bad for the Big Gig’s attendance statistics is usually good for the actual music fans and for whatever reason, be it the unpredictable weather or America’s general, ongoing existential crisis, an astonishing few decided to turn up at the lakefront Sunday night. Commerce aside, that means a festival experience relatively free from traffic snarls, unruly drunks or general chaos, so what is often a prolonged slog becomes downright easy. That includes finding bone fide bleacher seats where you could sit and enjoy Chromeo’s brand of electro-funk with a clear view, although most in attendance (few though they may be) were on their feet and dancing in the aisles.
Though scheduled to take the Miller Lite Oasis stage at 10 p.m., there was apparently some sort of delay, intentional or not, but it is hard to be impatient when at any time you can simply stroll over and watch Spoon at the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse in a matter of seconds with zero hassle. Similarly, there was no difficulty getting back when Chromeo actually started, with guitarist/lead singer Dave 1 (AKA David Maklovitch) climbing up the amps as synth-master P-Thugg (alias Patrick Gemayel), embellished a backing track chanting their name. That was just the start of the stage craft and/or crowd work however, as seemingly every other song included something like the audience waving their phones in unison or a single, bright spotlight reflecting off the fixtures of Dave’s guitar for a particularly dramatic solo.
Between the stunts and the banter, which included a confusing, seemingly serious aside about how they haven’t played Milwaukee lately because it’s one of America’s most haunted cities and they are afraid of ghosts, was exactly what anyone familiar with the duo would expect from Chromeo. The pair make no excuses or pretenses about worshipping at the altar of Prince, P-Funk and Zapp, and the results are reliably if predictably danceable. There’s no denying that there’s some schtick involved, but the overall earnestness and energy of their set, which leaned heavily on their brand-new outing Head Over Heels, easily sells what in lesser hand would be mere homage. All told it may not have been worth putting up with the usual Summerfest craziness for, but on a slow night like tonight it was a real treat.
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Read more of our Summerfest coverage, including picks, previews and reviews, here.
