Best of Summerfest weekend No. 2: From Chris Stapleton to Dave Chappelle

After a surreal and at time sleepy opening week, Summerfest started to feel more like itself again during Week 2.

Sunny skies and a popular "Throwback Thursday" promotion deal drew fans to the Milwaukee lakefront, as did three back-to-back blockbusters in the American Family Insurance Amphitheater, with Chris Stapleton, Zac Brown Band and Dave Chappelle.

And unlike the first week, there were no sudden headliner cancellations due to positive cases of COVID-19.

Despite the larger crowds, there was still plenty of space on the grounds where people could stroll up to practically any stage and see a band without being shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers. The much-feared labor shortage also showed no sign of strain, with lines moving swiftly for the most part, including through the main gates, where everyone over 12 has to present proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.

Here's the best and worst of Summerfest, Weekend No. 2, from an American Family Insurance Amphitheater show Sept. 8 through a full festival day Sept. 11.

RELATED: From Green Day to DJ Shaquille O'Neal, the best and worst of Summerfest 2021 in Milwaukee, Weekend No. 1

Best set

Perhaps riding high after receiving five CMA Award nominations a few hours prior (tying with Eric Church for the most of anyone this year), Chris Stapleton was especially soulful at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater Thursday for what might have been the largest Summerfest crowd for a single show so far this year. And beyond the treasure trove of songs showcasing his exquisite penmanship, rich guitar work and powerful voice — with further support in his band from his wife and backing vocalist Morgane, Nashville A-list producer Dave Cobb and lap steel guitar legend Paul Franklin — Stapleton even threw in a fiery cover of "Free Bird" for that one bozo requesting that Lynyrd Skynyrd classic at seemingly every concert.

RELATED: Chris Stapleton makes case for CMA Awards dominance at Summerfest, and Sheryl Crow shows Milwaukee Bucks some love

Greatest 'get'

Summerfest has never had a comedian perform in the American Family Insurance Amphitheater in the venue's 34-year history. But this year, the festival got the comedian with Dave Chappelle. Even with 23,000 fans filling the venue, you could hear a pin drop throughout his performance, and Chappelle himself seemed blown away by the reception. But even a festival crowd knows a comedian who speaks his truth as candidly as Chappelle does, with devilish irreverence and at times heartbreaking pathos, deserves respect.

RELATED: Dave Chappelle crushed Milwaukee Summerfest's first-ever amphitheater comedy show. But we can't tell you what he joked about.

Best discovery

Tai Verdes found TikTok fame with the sunny earworm "A-O-K," but he's not going to be some fleeting one-hit wonder. He kicked off his Summerfest set Thursday with a series of peppy pop tunes that talk candidly about therapy and the struggle to find happiness, themes that clearly spoke to a charged crowd of college kids.

RELATED: Summerfest 2021: Joan Jett, Coheed and Cambria, Tai Verdes, and the best and worst of Day 1, Weekend 2 at the Milwaukee music festival

Our writers' favorite performances

• Music contributor Damon Joy calls it a tie between Nelly and G-Eazy, who both played Summerfest Friday night. "As hip-hop performances go, Nelly is definitely one to take lessons from," Joy wrote in his review, while he likened heartthrob G-Eazy's Summerfest show to a "sex-fueled hip-hop party" where "shrieks from the audience could be heard for miles."

• Music contributor Catherine Jozwik was a fan of Lindsey Stirling, also Friday night. "She had it all," Jozwik said. "Great violin playing, costumes, lights, backup dancers, and visuals. A real spectacle!"

• Music contributor Cal Roach's favorite show of Weekend 2 was Ani Difranco Thursday. "She has very few peers in music history who've combined poetry, voice and guitar at such a high level for so long, and augmented by her rhythm section… her more recent material took on a new potency in the live setting," Roach said.

• And music contributor Jon M. Gilbertson praised Canadian folk rocker Tamara Lindeman, better known as The Weather Station, who performed Saturday. "With a voice as strong as that of Tori Amos but as direct as that of Bobbie Gentry, she wrapped introspection in allure," Gilbertson wrote. "Pop and jazz flowered from country and folk stems, and noise from the surrounding festival never fully drowned this soft, private, nocturnal garden."

RELATED: Nelly, G-Eazy, Lindsey Stirling, Wilco, and the best and worst of Milwaukee's Summerfest Day 2, Weekend 2

Best collaboration

Jonas Brothers opener Kelsea Ballerini shared a 2008 video diary during her set, from when she was 14 years old, gushing about the band — so she naturally seemed pretty thrilled to be on stage with them at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater Wednesday to cover Tove Lo's part for Nick Jonas' "Close."

RELATED: Jonas Brothers bring the nostalgia, and preview their next era, at Summerfest Week 2 kickoff in Milwaukee

Best cover

Make that covers. To close out their Summerfest set, Zac Brown Band filled out their encore with a rousing medley of huge hits from across the decades from other artists, with each member singing lead vocals for one song each (minus Coy Bowles and Matt Matt Mangano, both absent for reasons never disclosed). Metallica's "Enter Sandman" slipped into Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" which became Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight." There was Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba," 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up" and Elton John's "Rocket Man." But the biggest hit of these hits was House of Pain's "Jump Around" — for ages the unofficial anthem of Wisconsin Badgers games at Camp Randall — with fiddle player Jimmy De Martini rapping Everlast's verses.

RELATED: Zac Brown Band, down two members, scales back the jams at Summerfest, while Gabby Barrett perseveres through bad sound mix

Most moving moment

After fiery performances of late ‘80s and early ‘90s songs rallying against societal ignorance and gentrification — still problems in 2021 — New York hard-rockers Living Colour Saturday called for a powerful moment of silence Saturday to reflect on the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11 “and everything that we’ve lost since then,” as guitarist Vernon Reid put it.

RELATED: ZZ Top, Kesha, 311, Brett Eldredge, and the best and worst on Milwaukee's Summerfest Day 3, Weekend 2

Best Bucks love

Chance The Rapper, who sat courtside for every Bucks win at Fiserv Forum during the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals this championship season, downplayed his Bucks appreciation at his Summerfest set last week. And Chappelle, who also attended finals games this year, congratulated the team but didn't talk much about the Bucks Saturday.

But opening for Stapleton Thursday, Sheryl Crow went all out, coming on stage wearing a Khris Middleton jersey, and later talking about how her teenage son aspires to be as tall as Giannis Antetokounmpo. Crow even replaced "L.A." with "Bucks country" as she sang "All I Wanna Do." And in another sign of just how much she cares about Milwaukee, Crow and the band did a special cover of "What Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)" just for this show.

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Funniest on-camera fan moment

A camera caught a bearded dude singing along to Crow's "If It Makes You Happy" while simultaneously trying to stifle a yawn.

Wildest set-list transition

Reggae group Third World at the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard Thursday went from performing "Con Te Partirò," made famous by Andrea Bocelli, to a cover of the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army."

Slickest Summerfest strut

I saw a teenager confidently walking along Summerfest's crowded main thoroughfare Friday afternoon while effortlessly balancing a bottle of water on his head.

Longest delay

Pop star Kesha's set was pushed back to 10:15 p.m. in the days leading up to her show Saturday, but then didn't end up taking the stage until 11 p.m. Fortunately for her, Kesha was met with "roars of approval rather than brickbats of disdain," Jon M. Gilbertson wrote in his review. One benefit for fans at Chappelle's show at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater next door — he was long gone before she started her set, so there wasn't any sound bleed.

Worst sets

• Jordan McGraw, aka Dr. Phil's kid, was added to the Jonas Brothers concert Wednesday just a few hours before showtime, but with his dull '80s pop-stealing originals and a gimmicky pop punk tune called "McConaughey," it was hardly a bonus, instead forcing a vastly more talented opener, Spencer Sutherland, to perform a half-hour earlier than planned to a largely empty amphitheater.

• Our music contributor Cal Roach's least favorite set was Coheed and Cambria Thursday. "No one would dispute the technical prowess and distinctive vision of Claudio Sanchez, but his forays into glossy pop territory didn't impress me," Roach said. "It was like a slick, modern prog-rock concert frequently interrupted by song-length NFL promotional ads."

• Music contributors Jon M. Gilbertson and Damon Joy lucked out and didn't see anything truly bad this week. And Jade Bird, music contributor Catherine Jozwik's pick for worst set, was hardly abysmal either. "She has great stage presence, but her vocals were muddled at times and her band threatened to overshadow her singing," Jozwik said. (Zac Brown Band opener Gabby Barrett's gorgeous vocals were also initially drowned out by her band Friday.)

Most mysterious (and sweetest) fan exchange

Chris Stapleton and his wife Morgane caught an odd sign in the pit during his Aset that simply read, "Bergy Is Here." He asked the woman holding the sign if she was Bergy (she shook her head no) and tried to get some answers but couldn't hear her. Unable to crack the mystery without bringing the show to a complete and awkward standstill, Stapleton offered to autograph the woman's sign. She was caught on camera holding back tears, making the sign of the cross.

It turns out Bergy was the nickname of the woman's good friend, who was supposed to see Stapleton at Summerfest last year. That show was postponed to 2021 because of the pandemic, and he died unexpectedly this past May, Bergy's brother Mike Harri wrote on the OnMilwaukee Facebook page.

"He loved Chris Stapleton's music and would share that love of Chris' music with everyone," Harri wrote. "So for the many concertgoers that had the chance to see Chris Stapleton, Bergy was there with you in spirit."

Tami Earley, who held up the sign, also commented about her friend and exchange with Stapleton on Facebook.

"Never in my wildest dream did I think it would get signed or even noticed," Earley wrote. "My cup runneth over."

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

Piet also talks concerts, local music and more on "TAP'd In" with Evan Rytlewski. Hear it at 8 a.m. Thursdays on WYMS-FM (88.9), or wherever you get your podcasts.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: From Chris Stapleton to Dave Chappelle, the best and worst of Summerfest 2021 in Milwaukee, Weekend No. 2