Lauren Daigle, Yungblud, Dylan Scott, Jenny Lewis and the best, worst of Summerfest, Day 7

Summerfest 2023 kicked off its final weekend Thursday with a first-come-first-served free-admission show in the American Family Insurance Amphitheater by rapper Yung Gravy — less than a week after his headlining show at the festival's Generac Power Stage — after the night's second scheduled headliner was forced to bow out.

Here's what we heard elsewhere at Summerfest Thursday.

Lauren Daigle

It was clear the all-ages crowd was buoyed by Lauren Daigle's performance Thursday night at the BMO Pavilion.

The 31-year-old Christian singer-songwriter and former "American Idol" contestant's inspirational music serves as a strong testament to her faith. Backed by a lively 12-piece band, which included a horn section and three backup singers, Daigle got the audience riled up with her smoky vocals, with some in attendance standing up and swaying to the music. Fans belted out songs such as the stirring "Trust in You," and cheered enthusiastically.

Daigle was, literally, a colorful performer. In the spirit of her "Kaleidoscope" tour, the stage was decked out in what appeared to be giant beads stacked on poles and woven fiber wall hangings. The singer herself was the picture of youthful energy dressed in a newsboy cap, multicolored patched bell bottoms and a striped top.

"It is so good to be near water with all of you," the beaming Daigle told the audience. "I've only seen Lake Michigan once, when I was in Chicago."

After confiding that she found "unspeakable joy" after the dark days of the pandemic, Daigle segued into the quietly reverent "Thank God I Do," captivating her audience.

— Catherine Jozwik, Special to the Journal Sentinel

Yungblud

How do you get hundreds of teenagers to go nuts? Play the Generac commercial five minutes before the show begins. The false start was pure comedy, because everyone was beyond irritated to have to wait to see Yungblud on this chilly Thursday night.

The English pop singer ran out to his adoring fans as boyfriends and dads strained to keep their eyes from rolling. The energy was reminiscent of an '80s punk show, with spitting, cursing and the throwing of water. Yungblud's voice was exquisite — just the right amount of tone and grunge. He drifted between cuts from his self-titled album to 2020's "Weird!” while the fans sung every lyric in unison.

At 25, he is already a master of crowd control, molding his fans whichever way he saw fit to get those ear-piercing screams. All he had to do was grab a guitar or sit at the piano and the Generac Power Stage erupted like it was the amphitheater.

Yungblud's recorded material really doesn’t do him justice. His live show really puts him in a different category — a little less pop and a little more punk. By the end, all the dads and boyfriends were jumping up and down with everyone else.

— Damon Joy, Special to the Journal Sentinel

Dylan Scott

I expected a lot more cowboy hats and boots, but this is the new age of country pop. One of its masters, Dylan Scott, packed in the Miller Lite Oasis stage Thursday night.

Dylan’s live show is extravagant and his vocals excellent, but it was his banter with fans that made the show memorable. Most songs had some addition of “Milwaukee” or “Wisconsin” to the lyrics causing insanity among the fans, especially with hit “Beer Buddies” and “Livin’ My Best Life.”

He later asked the fans who had to work tomorrow and, after considerable applause, he said with a Southern twang: “Milwaukee's gonna hate me in the morning. You’re gonna be hungover from that spotted goat!” Scott found it necessary to take a few jabs at our state's precious Spotted Cow, and it was hilarious.

Even if country isn’t your thing, Scott puts on a show to remember. I’m sure audience member Savannah will remember Dylan singing “Happy Birthday” to her mid-concert for the rest of her life.

— Damon Joy

Jenny Lewis

Jenny Lewis strolled onto the Uline Warehouse stage 16 minutes behind schedule late Thursday afternoon. Judging by the nonplussed expression on her face, she was right on time.

Any Parrotheads bummed that Jimmy Buffett canceled his Summerfest gig would have found similar vibes here, certainly more similar than at the amphitheater Thursday for Buffett’s ultimate replacement, Yung Gravy. Lewis may not have songs about cheeseburgers in paradise, but singing about a puppy and a truck at Summerfest conjured a similar sort of Zen.

It’s from Lewis’ new album “Joy’All,” which, unsurprisingly, is one of the best reviewed releases this year. Her effortless warmth has earned her glowing accolades following a seemingly risky parting with Rilo Kiley. And Harry Styles had her open his Fiserv Forum show two years back, so of course she’s cool.

Lewis’ laid-back approach meant little flexing Thursday — the closest Lewis came was an applause-generating, fluttering falsetto at the bridge of “Red Bull & Hennessy,” still sung without breaking a sweat. And aside from the welcome inclusion of slow-pulse protest anthem “Guns” from Lewis’ supergroup side project Nice as (Expletive), there also was little room for challenges. At one point, the band struggled to start new song “Giddy Up” Thursday and never came back to it, despite Lewis’ promise that they would.

But beneath the pleasant sounds, well-complemented on this sunny afternoon, was Lewis’ sung acknowledgement of overcoming anguish and trauma that made her songs all the more nourishing. Even “Puppy and a Truck” saw Lewis reflecting on a “psychopath” ex and having her ass kicked in her forties.

— Piet Levy, plevy@journalsentinel.com

The War on Drugs

The War On Drugs haven't put anything out since 2021, but that's no reason not to tour — surely it's the anniversary of something.

The band opened its set at the Uline Warehouse stage Thursday night with "Oceans of Darkness," a song that rips off Tom Petty's "A Higher Place" so distinctly it was almost too perfect for Summerfest.

"Can you wear sunglasses at night in Milwaukee … er, no?" frontman Adam Granduciel said afterward. He felt out the crowd for a precarious few seconds and ultimately took 'em off. Later on, he gave a shoutout to Tosa, and the packed crowd, loving the all-day indie-rock fest, gave it up.

As the sparse but insistent beat of "An Ocean in Between the Waves" began, a chorus of dudes in the audience said "Nice" almost in unison. Granduciel was at his emotive best, not unlike Sting giving his all in "King of Pain" or something.

But the band pushed sonically beyond anything The Police could have dreamed, layering waves of guitar and electricity until discerning instruments was impossible. Most songs did whip up a frenzy, The National-style, even if it was hard to tell them apart.

— Cal Roach, Special to the Journal Sentinel

Dinosaur Jr.

You can still thrash around to Dinosaur Jr.

They’ve been a band since 1984 and, Thursday night at the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard, bassist Lou Barlow was still up there leaping and headbanging like a madman. In the smaller clubs this band has traditionally played, this behavior is simply known as “enjoying yourself.”

The group isn’t known for its curveballs. Frontman J Mascis hasn’t deviated from his plaintive delivery nor strummy melodic composition the entire time. You either love noisy nerdy heartfelt or you don’t. The power trio has lost nothing in terms of performance; they’ve merely kept adding songs.

Mascis’ solo in “Get Me” was the closest thing to Neil Young shredding that this festival has heard in decades. In terms of decibels and overdrive, this was easily one of the fest’s heaviest sets, simultaneously proto- and post-grunge.

A cathartic performance of “Feel the Pain” showcased the full depth of this band’s power; a signature quasi-metal cover of the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” drove it home — it may be noise on the surface, but it’s empathy underneath.

— Cal Roach

Leah Kate

The words “Open The Pit” flashed in bold white letters on the big screen behind Leah Kate on the Generac Power Stage Thursday afternoon. People did not comply.

Curse those pesky Summerfest benches if you want, but this wasn’t a large, pit-worthy gathering. It didn’t help that, in addition to being saddled with a 3:30 p.m. set on a Thursday, Kate was booked opposite another emerging female-led rock act, Horsegirl.

Nevertheless, despite the small turnout and lack of moshing, Kate lavished praise on Milwaukee, criticizing herself for never visiting the city before now and insisting this was one of her favorite shows ever. Her performance was equally over the top and eager to please, giving her sugar-coated, angsty pop-punk anthems like “Life Sux” and “Monster” real Warped Tour energy.

And while the moshing never came — even for her big finish, viral breakout “10 Things I Hate About You” — Kate’s savage and snappy cut-downs about a terrible ex did inspire several people to jump and scream along.

— Piet Levy

The Regrettes

The Regrettes’ Lydia Night was surrounded by hundreds of fans at the Generac Power Stage Thursday night, and also a dreaded nemesis: the Summerfest benches.

Night recognized that the benches, or “bleacher things” as she called them, would make dancing more difficult, so she looked out over the crowd and demanded assurances from several individual fans, one by one, that they wouldn’t hold anything back.

Night certainly didn’t. Her giddy, jumping stage theatrics and her band’s unfiltered punk sound have become more polished since the band’s breakout album in 2017. But after a few songs, Night seemed disappointed when she gauged the crowd’s energy, prompting her to run into the pit, and back to high five the lighting tech, for much of “Nowhere.”

And as the song reached its bridge, she saw an opportunity, asking everyone to get low and take a seat, with fans enthusiastically leaping to their feet for the last chorus.

That’s how to show those benches who’s boss.

— Piet Levy

Cautious Clay

Joshua Karpeh, aka Cautious Clay, came to Summerfest dressed to impress, sporting a Giannis Antetokounmpo jersey (the Cream City edition) on the Uline Warehouse stage early Thursday night.

But the Cleveland-born R&B artist didn’t need to wear a Bucks jersey to score bonus points with the Milwaukee crowd. Nor probably would Clay appreciate being called an R&B artist. Deep in his set, he talked about a question he took at a Radio Milwaukee session Thursday regarding how he’d classify his music. His preferred approach: “Make music however the (expletive) you want to make it.”

So for “Reasons,” Clay called for just the drummer to finish the song, who gave it an Afrobeat flair. On “Agreeable,” Clay busted out some jazz flute. And he started “Rapture in Blue” by spitting short breaths into a flute — essentially mimicking beatboxing — then ended it playing jazzy sax freestyle over funky bass rumbles.

Whatever the blank you’d want to call Clay’s music at Summerfest, it was irrefutably good.

— Piet Levy

Horsegirl

Horsegirl has been in writing mode, singer and guitarist Penelope Lowenstein said in the middle of their Uline Warehouse set Thursday afternoon. It sort of showed.

The Chicago trio has been turning heads following their debut album “Versions of Modern Performance,” released last year on revered indie label Matador. But aside from the fact that their jagged post-punk might be better served in a cramped, dingy club than outside on a sunny day, the trio’s detached demeanor Thursday suggested their heads might have been elsewhere.

That seemed to work fine for this low-stakes show in front of a modest crowd on a lazy Big Gig afternoon, and drummer Gigi Reece deserves credit for turning up the energy for the band’s signature “Anti-glory.” But even if Horsegirl live didn’t seem to match the buzz, their writing-mode status gave them the chance to debut a song they wrote just two days earlier. Reece and singer-guitarist Nora Cheng briefly flashed amused and frightened eyes at each other when the song nearly veered off the rails, but at least the risky setlist addition gave Horsegirl’s Summerfest appearance a little edge.

— Piet Levy

RELATED: Here's the Summerfest 2023 lineup by date, time and stage for the Milwaukee music festival

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lauren Daigle, Yungblud and the best and worst of Summerfest's Day 7