Hanson, Toosii, Gavin DeGraw, and the best and worst from Summerfest 2024's first Friday

The sun came out, and so did the fog — but at least the rain stayed away from Summerfest Friday. (Saturday is expected to be a different story.)

Here are the best and the worst of what we saw and heard on the grounds of the Milwaukee music festival Friday night.

More: Here's the Summerfest 2024 lineup by date, time and stage for the Milwaukee music festival

Hanson

It would have been easy 27 years ago to assume Hanson would be a mere asterisk of late-nineties one-hit wonderment when “MMMBop” took the band’s three brothers to the top of the charts with its catchy, bubblegum refrain.

But Friday night at the BMO Pavilion, Isaac, Taylor and Zac (oldest to youngest) displayed how the intervening decades from that first hit have revealed the talented, rich power-pop and rock ensemble that was there all along.

“How you guys feeling tonight?” Taylor asked from behind his keyboards as the crowd down front screamed enthusiastically and the band jumped into the bluesy swagger of the opening “Thinkin’ About Something.” Flanked by two additional musicians, the trio sampled from across their catalog early in their set, from the bouncy, uplifting “Where’s the Love” from that 1997 debut album to the thumping rock and Zac-led vocals of “Don’t Let Me Down” from 2022’s “Red Green Blue” — each ripe with vocal harmonies and catchy grooves.

— Erik Ernst, Special to the Journal Sentinel

Toosii

After a hype set from his DJ, JohnnyGoin2x, Toosii stepped onto the Miller Lite Oasis stage to the melodic sounds of “Love Is … .” As the song rolled on, though, it took until the final verse when the backing track faded for the rapper’s Auto-Tuned yet still emotional vocals to emerge.

The Syracuse, N.Y. -born and North Carolina-raised rapper explained that his headlining show Friday night was his first in six months, and he was ready to give this crowd his all. He did so with a set that was interactive and spontaneous.

After a verse of “Heartaches,” he paused the show and asked where the crowd wanted to go. The result: He passed a microphone to a female fan in the front row as the DJ cued up the bumping tones of “5’5,” asking the fan to rap Latto’s verse on the track. And while the backing tracks could at times be overwhelming, when they bowed out and Toosii had the mic to himself — like at the end of “Back From the Dead” and a midtrack interlude of “Euphoria” — the introspection that has marked his young career was palpable.

And his engagement with the crowd was just as prevalent as he grabbed a parade of phones to snap photos for fans before making his way down into the crowd to convene with the revelers, lit up by the glow of the sea of waving cellphones.

— Erik Ernst

Gavin DeGraw

Summerfest is nothing if not known for its juxtaposition, so the exodus of Drowning Pool fans leaving the BMO Pavilion after the hard rockers’ late Friday afternoon set to make way for the incoming Gavin DeGraw and Hanson fans was visually striking.

By the time DeGraw arrived on stage in front of his four-piece band, a large crowd of pop fans was ready to sing and wave their hands along with the brown-ballcap-topped singer as he bounced across the stage to the jaunty title track of his 2003 debut album, “Chariot.”

Mid-song, he took a seat behind a center-stage keyboard — a spot from where he would often hold court for the energetic set of bright and jaunty tunes, while also regularly hopping up to engage the fans who were up and dancing from the get-go.

On “Sweeter,” he paced the stage, his voice reaching a smooth falsetto that accented the rich vocals of the song’s verses. “Best I Ever Had” was a bouncy, joyous anthem.

And, after a joke about Tom Brady, DeGraw swayed and crooned to the breezy “Greatest of All Time.” Soon, he strummed the sweet opening of “Summertime” on an acoustic guitar as the breezes flowed in off Lake Michigan, and it felt just like Summerfest.

— Erik Ernst

En Vogue

In the 1990s, two things were true: R&B group En Vogue had us in a chokehold, and I had posters of them plastered all over my wall.

The ladies of En Vogue’s sultry choreographed intro sent the masses at the Uline Warehouse Friday night into a nostalgia-filled state that remained throughout their performance. (It involved masks and fans. You had to be there.)Their setlist was a celebration of their more than three decades as musicians. While they mostly stuck to the greatest hits, they sprinkled in a few new joints to show that they are continuing to make new material.

Between the flawless vocals and dynamic stage presence, En Vogue proved that they are still in the game and have no intention of stopping. The only thing that would have made the show any better would have been Salt-N-Pepa bum-rushing the stage during “Whatta Man.” For a second, I really thought it might happen.

And, no, they weren’t selling any posters at the merch table.

— Damon Joy, Special to the Journal Sentinel

Gloss Up

In the realm of hypersexualized female rap, Memphis’s Gloss Up fits right in with the likes of GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion and Sexyy Red.

As a billion Gen-Z’ers permeated the Miller Lite Oasis Friday night, DJ Nic Stokes got them into TikTok mode — singing and dancing like no one was watching.

Gloss Up came out almost 40 minutes late wearing essentially a bikini. While this is the norm for many in her style of rap, it was a bit off-putting.

There were some technical difficulties at the beginning of her set, but they were quickly rectified, and Gloss Up went on to send the full Miller stage into a frenzy.

While at times she rapped over her own lyrics, there were moments when she didn’t that showed her true prowess on the mic. Her lyrics aren’t for everyone, but her fans lost their collective minds seeing Quality Control Music's latest superstar.

— Damon Joy

The 502s

Mix the stomp-and-holler, campfire-ready earworms of the Lumineers with the irrepressible theater-kid energy of pop band and July 4 Summerfest headliners AJR, and you’ve got Florida sextet the 502s, who played the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard late Friday afternoon.

Khaki-shorts-sporting sax player Joe Capati stomped around during “Perfect Portrait of Young Love”; busted out a melodramatic melodica solo during “Magdalene”; then swapped that out for a clarinet, and some synchronized kicks with keyboardist and guitarist Matthew Tonner, during “Like My Father.” Frontman Eddie Isola was the happy-go-lucky ringmaster, occasionally stifling a chuckle over the hijinks, while guitarist Graci Phillips transformed into a Nick Jr. show host, talking to the crowd about their frustrations and having them toss them into the air and scream during “Something’s Gonna Go Our Way.”

Zach Bryan purists would scoff at the winking self-awareness, but the band — and, most crucially, the large crowd that gathered for their set — were undeniably having a blast. AJR, of course, will headline Summerfest’s biggest venue, the American Family Insurance Amphitheater, and the Lumineers have sold that venue out in the past. It’s not unfathomable to imagine the 502s making it to that level.

— Piet Levy, plevy@journalsentinel.com

Jeffrey Osborne

R&B singer Jeffrey Osborne has had a career spanning more than half a century.

On Friday night at the Uline Warehouse, Osborne, the former drummer and leader of the group L.T.D., treated an appreciative mostly 55-and-older crowd to his silky baritone vocals and soulful songs.

The 75-year-old — looking youthful and snazzy in a black T-shirt, ecru jacket and black pants — made a grand entrance, singing "We Party Hearty" and dancing down the aisles, to the delight of fans.

Osborne, backed by a superb band and vocalist, slowed it down for his third song, "We're Going All the Way," followed by "Only Human." The singer-songwriter got the crowd grooving to '70s L.T.D. hit "Holding On (When Love Is Gone)" and a cover of Earth, Wind & Fire's "September."

"The '70s, those were the good ol' days," Osborne proclaimed to the cheering crowd. "Old school is the (expletive). That new stuff ain't nothin' but sampling."

People swaying to the romantic jams, such as adult-contemporary radio mainstay "On the Wings of Love," were clearly digging the chill, upbeat vibe of the concert and the gorgeous 70-degree weather.

— Catherine Jozwik, Special to the Journal Sentinel

Leroy Airmaster with Junior Brantley

“Play as long as you want, Steve,” Junior Brantley told Steve Cohen from local blues band Leroy Airmaster early in the first of two Airmaster and Brantley sets at Summerfest’s Johnsonville Summerville late Friday afternoon. That’s quite the open invitation — to the potential chagrin of the clock-watching stage manager — but Cohen was contrite about it, keeping his harmonica solo to a tight two minutes.

But that’s where the modesty ended, with Cohen turning heirloom tomato red as he blasted out savory runs and piercing whistles.

Cohen didn’t need a lot of time to make a statement because he’s spent decades doing his thing: Leroy Airmaster first jammed around town in the ‘80s. So, as impressive as Cohen’s short spotlight-seizing moment was Friday, it seemed as natural as breathing. The same goes for Milwaukee-born, Las Vegas-based Brantley — who played with legendary local band Short Stuff with Jim Liban, and then the Fabulous Thunderbirds — when he effortlessly tickled the keys, and for Airmaster guitarist and co-founder Bill Stone’s impressive strut through the Muddy Waters classic “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man.”

But showing off wasn’t the primary agenda. It was all about the hang for these longtime bandmates and friends — and it was a pretty good one.

— Piet Levy

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hanson, Toosii and the best, worst from Summerfest 2024's first Friday