Most of the year, Somerset is a quiet western Wisconsin town that is rarely heard of for those outside of the St. Croix Valley area. However, this neighboring town of mine has grown into a hot spot for tens of thousands of music fans annually to come out in the masses for the 3-day long music festival that is Summerset. This fest, a child of the Minneapolis based promotional group Sound In Motion or SIMShows, dates back to 2011. Having just rounded out its sixth yearly affair, fans were delivered performances from the likes of Zeds Dead, GRiZ, Zedd, Run The Jewels, Die Antwoord and many more over this past weekend.
It has been a few years since I myself have attended this festival, located a convenient 15 minutes from my home and a very manageable hour drive from most coming from the Twin Cities area. Due to its proximity to the metro, Summerset offers guests several different experiences to come and party for the weekend. From single day passes with parking, to full out 4-day long camping and RV/VIP experiences, almost anyone can find a reason to come out and see what this festival has to offer. Leaving my previous experiences at the gate, I was fortunate enough to catch both Friday & Sunday’s festivities to see how things have evolved over the years.
For those looking at the lineup, it is pretty clear right off the bat that Summerset is a primarily EDM centered festival. Broken into two main stages that are a jaunt between, The Main Stage was home to the larger EDM acts as well as the few larger named hip hop artists of the weekend. The Grove was tucked away through the woods and in a valley like clearing that was home to anything and everything dance music centered.
For those partiers who could last past the midnight Main Stage curfew, The Grove was home to the official (and additionally ticketed) “After Parties” where ravers not quite ready to pass out could go and shuffle into the wee hours of the night. Also featured through the grounds is a curated Silent Disco with fresh DJ’s spinning records straight to your isolated headphones hourly, as well as The Saloon which was home to local Hip Hop and names on the bill that didn’t quite fit into the mold of the two main stages.
Upon my arrival Friday, I was greeted by a surprisingly small crowd at The Main Stage with the Canadian based trio Keys N’ Krates performing. What these guys do very well is offer a non-traditional performance to their dance music delivery. Sporting live drums, keyboard and synths, and live DJing complete with scratching, these guys do something different yet fun for fans. Despite the lackluster crowd participation, I enjoyed Keys N’ Krates set before bouncing over to The Grove to catch Ghastly. Catching my first taste for some wubs of the day, the OWSLA signed Ghastly brought a ferocious and heavy set to The Grove that was certainly feeling the vibe.
Seven Lions was up next to bring Summerset into the night with the coveted sunset set time, a truly fitting timeslot for his melodic and at times epic delivery. Seven Lions is an artist that you can genuinely get lost in the journey of his set, bringing fans on an almost spiritual ride to the tune of a Bassnectar-esque experience. The atmosphere was set from here and was eager for a shake-up of genre that Run The Jewels hoped to deliver to the growing masses.
As the stage flip was going on behind the scenes, fans began eagerly chanting for El-P and Killer Mike to grace the stage. All of the crowd’s time spent anxiously waiting was rewarded in full once Run The Jewels kicked things off with a bang. Having been my first time seeing RTJ, I quickly could see why both of their studio releases are coveted as some of the best modern rap albums of our time. Dirty beats balanced with conscious rhymes and a high energy delivery made for an absolute pleasure to watch as RTJ delivered a set with a purpose.
Up next to close out day one was the Canadian based duo Zeds Dead, an early adaptor of the dubstep and drum & bass sound at the beginning of the EDM kick almost a decade ago. Fireworks and flames ignited to throw the now packed Main Stage area into overdrive of excitement as Zeds Dead delivered a heavy and genre bending set into the night. Despite a quick technical issue, ZD was certainly a crowd pleasure for those looking to head bang and rage.
Sunday was met with a rainy, mellow feel and seemingly less people then the somewhat thin Friday crowd I had encountered. I’m uncertain on what the cause of this was, but nevertheless the ability to comfortably move around and dance for some is a welcome feel to the often overcrowded festivals around the country. I started my day again at The Main Stage, where the ninja gilded Datsik was starting up. Everything dubstep and wub-centered rattled the area as Datsik took fans down his anime themed road, complete with action scene visuals and his signature attire. Those who came to rage showed it wasn’t too early in the day to loose it on some heavy handed tunes.
It seems interesting to me that next up to follow such a heavy, dark dubstep journey would be the melodic and downtempo style of Post Malone; but I appeared to be the only one. Fans were again chanting for “Stoney” to hit the stage, and after some trap pump up jams, the oddly dressed and admittedly drunken Post Malone whipped an open Bud Light onto his adoring fans. Post was all smiles as he delivered a slew of his latest songs with some deeper cut mixtape tracks tossed in. The vibe was much more somber, yet the crowd was all about the stoner drunken feels of Malone.
I quickly popped over to The Grove stage to try and catch the EDM icon Destructo, who was performing for a very thin yet engaging crowd. Surprised by the lack of fans, Destructo was certainly delivering a great deep and future house set for those who were happy to be there. Of all the sets I could’ve attended during my two days, this was probably the most underappreciated turn out that I saw.
What I witnessed after returning to the Main Stage can only truly be described as odd. Die Antwoord is certainly known for their extremely out-of-the-box music and aesthetic, but seeing them finally perform live was truly an interesting experience. Creepy outfits, bizarre visuals of penis and ghost sperm, and an all around weird show went down but it was weirdly enough a huge success. I can’t quite pin down what worked about it all, but it was exactly what I would picture a Die Antwoord set to look like. If you can, I’d highly recommend seeing it with your own eyes given the opportunity, it was truly a bizarre fun time.
Finally, we came to the grand finale of the weekend with one set left set for The Main Stage. The honor of closing out this weekend long party was given to GRiZ, a future funk DJ who sports a signature saxophone to jam out on while mixing in live guitar and heavy, funky tunes. GRiZ does a fantastic job of bringing together fans of lots of dance genres, everyone from funky jam bands to heavy bass heads. The Main Stage was moving and dancing like none other for the 90-minute conclusion of the festival, a real treat to go out on in my opinion.
For all it’s worth, this festival seems to have a great energy about it that keeps people wanting to come back year after year. What it lacks in interactiveness, user experience, and longer music hours like some bigger festivals; it makes up for in talented performers and a good time. I can’t speak to the whole experience as I wasn’t fully emerged in the camping and community vibe, but I did meet a lot of nice people and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and kind to others which is what you want to experience.
For those living close to the western Wisconsin area, this is certainly a festival to keep on your radar for years to come as they don’t appear to be slowing down despite the crowd size I’ve been used to in years past. Summerset clearly wants to grow and give its fans an enjoyable weekend away from real life, and for a majority of fans, I feel it does just that and does it well.
Were you at Summer Set? Did we take a photo of you? Find it here.
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