Wolfgang, Passion Pit, Girl Talk and Blackalicious Mix it Up

The Chalice | Saturday 1:30 – 2:30

The festival campgrounds are located in Northwest Wisconsin, just south of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. Beautiful rolling hills makeup the festival grounds. They made it visually attractive, but the walks in between stage was a little tiresome. I was ready early Saturday to find out more on the youthful hip-hop group known as The Chalice from Minneapolis.
The Chalice, an electronic rhythm and blues trio features Lizzo, Sophia Eris, and Claire De Lune. During their Summer Set performance they had a backup DJ to spin their beats on the Main Stage. At first I had reserved feelings about this band, but after I heard them signing from a distance, I found myself rushing a little bit faster to the stage to catch their show. The band has a raw energy about them that provided excellent entertainment, and a boost of energy early Saturday afternoon.

Papadosio | Saturday 3:00 – 4:00

Papadosio took the Main Stage after The Chalice wrapped their set of northern hip-hop. Papadosio brought their improvisational rock rhythms to the stage, and provided a nice section of electronica jam music to the festival. Their music does layer several keyboards and synthesizers together, but also gives a full experience rock show when watching their live set.

BommBox at Summer Set

BoomBox | Saturday 4:30 – 5:30

BoomBox featured new music during their set with an old school funky, electronic beats, layered with Zion’s improvisational guitar solos. Guests danced all over the North Campgrounds during this set. Music traveled from the bottom of The Grove to spots all over the festival grounds. A guest was driving in a car down the main path giving people high fives and “air fives”. His buddy started to make fun of him in the car for giving out air fives. He replied by giving seven air fives in a row and telling his buddy to “suck it”. It was a comical moment during the BoomBox set.

Doomtree at Summer Set

Doomtree | Saturday 6:00 – 7:00

Doomtree, Minneapolis-based innovators cross over rap, hip-hop, rock, and electronic genres seamlessly in the studio and on stage. Dessa is one of the featured singers in this group, and she also had a set on Sunday. The group is also made up with Cecil Otter, Lazerbeak, Mike Mictlan, Paper Tiger, P.O.S and Sims. The band also created their own record label. For more information check out Doomtree Records.
Their gritty style was well-received from the Summer Set crowd. I always enjoy a band that can joke with the audience and have a good time. Their songs were executed professionally on stage. The crowd was also able to check out Alex Metric and Morgan Page during this set on The Grove Stage.

ZEDD | Saturday 7:30 – 8:30

Born Anton Zaslavski, Zedd was raised in Kaiserslautern, Germany and on Saturday, August 10 he brought his unique electronic sound to the Main Stage at Somerset Amphitheater. The crowd was set to pop for his set. The mood in the air was speculator. The cool air mixed well with the sunset on Saturday. Zedd performed ‘Clarity’ as well as many other popular mixes for the Summer Set crowd. One of my favorite moments of the festival was when he busted out the original Zelda theme song remix. The graphics that he uses during that song is cool, but some gameplay shots would be even better. Take the old game and make the graphics slightly more 3D for the live concert experience. It was one of the best EDM sets of the weekend.

Zedd at Summer Set 2013

Greensky Bluegrass | 8:30 – 9:00

Greensky Bluegrass performed on The Salon Stage late Saturday evening in between the Zedd and Passion Pit performances on the Main Stage. The Salon Stage was conveniently placed next to the Main Stage. When Greensky Bluegrass hit the Salon Stage the crowd was ready to groove to their northern style of folk/bluegrass music. They definitely step outside of the traditional bluegrass shell, and pave their own road in the genre. Their latest album “Handguns” is still one of my favorite albums to play on WDBX Radio.
The crowd was jumping out of their shoes during most of this set. The band is currently based out of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
After I caught some northern acoustic Michigan gold at the Salon Stage, I moved my way back to the Main Stage for the electronic pop/rock combo with Passion Pit. SBTRKT was throwing down a DJ set at Grove Stage during this time slot as well.

Passion Pit | Saturday 9:05 – 10:05

Passion Pit, Cambridge, Massachusetts pop stars lit up the Main Stage Saturday night. They cut up, and remastered their original material for the Summer Set Music Festival. It is commendable when an act performs their own music. I understand that DJs are creating art by remixing music, but there is something deeper about a beat that someone created themselves. I do appreciate it when DJs spend the time to mix in their own content.
Passion Pit delivers a creative performance that strings radio hits, alternative summer anthems, contemporary electronic remixes and their own sound to the hour long set. ‘Take A Walk’ covers the airwaves on radio. It was a treat to see the band perform it live on Saturday evening. It was my first time seeing the band live, and they did not disappoint me for a second.

Passion Pit at Summer Set

Blackalicious & Girl Talk at Summer Set 2013

One of the main draws for me to this event was Blackalicious. Gift of Gab and I became friends back in 2010, and I have been a big fan of his music since we met at an event that I was helping develop. The event was in their second year, and was experiencing growing pains, but Gab was cool with helping out. I noticed some of those growing pains during Summer Set. Hopefully guests will understand that Rome was not built in a day, and if you gave me the option to either check out Rome, Italy or return to Summer Set next year, I would go with Summer Set for the entertainment factor. I can overlook some mistakes, but when the sound team had Gab’s mic turned down for the first 2 minutes of his 30 minute set, it was unforgivable, (just kidding, Gab really doesn’t even need a mic.)
There is a deeper meaning behind these music festivals though. The art that these musicians share inspires people all over the world and when events like Summer Set bring multiple forms of inspiration together for one weekend, it really sends a positive message. That is the feeling I get when I watched the Blackalicious set at least.

Girl Talk, is a Pittsburg native that has been lighting up the music scene since 2007. In the past six years he has developed a strong fan base, and polished, grimy set filled with bass drops to fulfill any basshead’s wishes. Girl Talk brought out a stage full of young people to dance around and get loose during the show. It was a little more chaotic/fun when the front row fans were able to rush the stage. A preset allotment of fans is just not as exciting, but there was plenty of chaos to endure around the Main Stage on Saturday night.

EOTO & Cities of Gold Late Night

The party continued to go with Cities of Gold warming up for EOTO’s special late night set at The Grove Stage. I listened to the set from a distance, because I had heard it was sold out. The Grove Stage had a capacity number of people allowed to the area. It is really for everyone’s safety, but that is not easy to explain to people. The event should work on multiple areas for late night performances, so fans can party late night without stress of getting into an event. I enjoyed the EOTO set from my campsite. Both late night sets were enjoyable from a distance. The music ended and fans got ready for the final day of the event.

Continue reading for the Sunday Review.