Photo Credit: Allen Halas
The Band Camino
For many that make an annual habit of complaining about the Summerfest lineup no matter who is on it, it is often a common gripe that there aren’t enough new bands in the process of breaking out on the schedule. To close out the festival’s opening weekend of 2022, however, The Band Camino showed that they are not just breaking out, but could very well be on the way to pure pop stardom. After seven years of growth, they made their Summerfest debut at the Uline Warehouse in Saturday’s headlining slot.
Before the show even started, the band knew their audience, with a pre-show playlist that had fans singing along to songs ranging from Paramore’s “Ain’t It Fun” all the way to cuts by Justin Timberlake and the Backstreet Boys. In a way, it felt like positioning The Band Camino’s set in an Amazon-style recommendation, as a related band that listeners would also like. The mostly-full Uline Warehouse crowd needed no coaxing, however, as they were at full voice, singing along to everything in the band’s setlist.
The roughly 75-minute set on Saturday night was the final stop of a 43-city headlining tour, the band’s first in that status. Even with that framework, the band were still all business, delivering song after song from their self-titled sophomore album with a tight precision. Frontmen Jeffery Jordan and Spencer Stewart commanded the crowd while showcasing their versatility, alternating between guitars and synthesizers for the majority of the set, and Jordan would occasionally go instrument-free to run around the stage and absorb the warm response on a cool night. While still maintaining a wholesome, likeable presence, both lead singers would move about the stage with inklings of the charisma of a pop superstar.
Photo Credit: Allen Halas
The Band Camino
Certainly, it also helps that just about every song in Saturday night’s set felt like a smash summertime anthem. Early on, “Roses” from the self-titled release was the first track to get the true singalong treatment, complete with a fan throwing a bouquet on stage at the first chorus. “I Think I Like You” was another standout, and from that point onward, fans were eating up everything the band was doing on stage, with the crowd almost making a natural reverb for The Band Camino’s vocals. “Crying Over You,” a collaboration with singer Chelsea Cutler signaled the final portion of the night, and while the band doesn’t have a lot of songs on mainstream radio right now, they certainly had figured out their most popular material. The only indicator that things were winding down was the time on the clock.
It is a rare but special occasion when you can see the potential of a band being realized. Saturday night, The Band Camino showed that the next time they come back to Summerfest, they’ll likely be on a larger stage, and perhaps a time after that, the American Family Insurance Amphitheater. While that may seem like a fast track to the top, Saturday showed that they have all of the chops to get there with ease.
