Milwaukeeans must be used to all this rain by now because even some ominous skies didn’t stop Brew City for turning out big for hip-hop/R&B singer Bryson Tiller at the Big Gig Friday night.

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Those skies opened up briefly just before Tiller took the stage at Summerfest’s BMO Harris Pavilion at 9:30 p.m., and the downpour was heavy enough that even those of us seated well under the roof could feel it.

Still, people kept coming.

Milwaukee popped out to Summerfest for Bryson Tiller tonight. It started raining right as his set began and the crowd only got more hype from there 😂 pic.twitter.com/Zw4w8rSXcs
— Dylan Hunter Carter (@DylanHCarter) July 6, 2024

But it would’ve taken a monsoon or more to dampen the spirits of the devoted crowd at Tiller’s show, which pretty much filled the reserved seats and drew a large crowd to the open area behind.

Though Tiller’s setlist looks formidably long, the Louisville singer mostly did abbreviated versions of hits from all four of his albums, stretching from 2015’s “Trapsoul” to his self-titled record, released in April.

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Tiller’s tour ended in late June, and the Summerfest date was an add-on after break of a few weeks, but, still he was in top form, segueing seamlessly from song to song, accompanied by a DJ and a dancer.

Though there was no band, there were plenty of swirling, colorful graphics on a screen behind Tiller and company for added visual interest.

The crowd was on its feet for most of the performance, usually singing along, but that participation really ramped up for some tunes, like “Run Me Dry,” “Exchange,” the H.E.R. tune “Could’ve Been” (on which Tiller was featured), “Overtime” and the encore, “Whatever She Wants.”

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Midway through the show Tiller teased the audience with a snippet of “Whatever She Wants,” vowing to play it in full later on. When Tiller thanked the crowd and said goodbye at 10:22, much of the audience started to file out, despite having not heard this recent hit.

@brysontiller put on a damn good show tonight in #MILWAUKEE…you had us lit. We love you here come back #414 #summerfest #2024

— RoZilla (@AyyyyeyoooRo) July 6, 2024

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But the house lights hadn’t come on and some of us had seen setlists from the shows at the end of the recent tour and suspected he’d be back.

When Tiller came out to play the song, reminding the crowd of his earlier promise, folks ran back into the rows of seats and went wild, capping a relatively short, but high-energy and eagerly appreciated headlining set.

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SETLIST

• Intro (Difference)
• Sorry Not Sorry
• Inhale
• Run Me Dry
• For However Long
• Outside
• Exchange
• Let Em’ Know
• Wild Thoughts
• Timeless Interlude
• Ciao!
• Canceled
• Open Interlude
• Could’ve Been
• Playing Games
• Blame
• Finesse
• Persuasion
• Let Me Explain
• ÆON L U S T
• Overtime
• Just Another Interlude
• Calypso
• Don’t
• Sorrows
• Right My Wrongs

Encore:

MILWAUKEE —  In the midst of a busy election season, the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted Friday to reinstate the use of ballot drop boxes across the state.

The 4-3 ruling overturned a decision the state’s high court made less than two years ago; the previous ruling banned the use of ballot drop boxes. Spectrum News was there when crews removed all ballot boxes from Milwaukee back in 2022.

Now, the city is putting those boxes back out ahead of the August partisan primaries.

“This is just another opportunity for us to provide a safe and secure way for people to drop off their absentee ballots here to the city of Milwaukee,” said Paulina Gutierrez, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission.

Gutierrez said ballot drop boxes are an especially helpful option for people with special needs.

“People with American Disability Act considerations, you know, most of our ballot boxes we attempt to put in places where people can just drive up to them,” said Gutierrez.

Ballot drop boxes were used in Wisconsin since the 1980s and became more popular during the pandemic. However, their legality and security were questioned by many Republicans following President Joe Biden’s victory over former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Gutierrez described the process that goes into making sure ballot boxes are extremely secure.

“We have a very robust paper trail and chain of custody process,” said Gutierrez. “Every time we are handling ballots, it’s always more than one person. We have security cameras at all of our drop box locations. There’s a whole process of making sure that information is completed. Pictures are taken. The ballots are then removed and put into a safe and secure ballot bag. They’re secured, sealed and transported immediately from the box over to our operations center where again all ballots come through and are handled in a secure fashion.” 

She said she believes adding back this voting option is a crucial step in making sure everyone in Wisconsin can cast their votes.

“It’s an opportunity to increase voter engagement and opportunities for people to submit their ballots to us in a secure way. It’s a great way to increase voter turnout,” said Gutierrez.

Former Milwaukee Brewers’ top prospect Keston Hiura is coming to the big leagues for the first time since the end of 2022 season.

He’s been promoted by the Los Angeles Angels to take the place of the injured Luis Rengifo, who was placed on the injured list.

Per Angels PR on social media:

#Angels transactions:
•Selected the contract of INF Keston Hiura (#13)
•Placed INF Luis Rengifo (right wrist inflammation) on 10-day injured list (retro to July 4)
•Transferred RHP Andrew Wantz to 60-day injured list

Hiura nearly made the Detroit Tigers roster out of spring training but was sent to Triple-A. With Toledo, he hit .232 in 49 games. He had six homers and 24 RBI, however his season has turned around with the Angels organization. In just 19 games with the Halos Triple-A team, he’s got 12 homers and 21 RBI.

Hiura was let go by the Brewers at the outset of this past offseason, which was a disappointing end to his tenure in the organization. He was at one point ranked the No. 20 overall prospect in baseball (2019) by MLB.com.

He appeared in games each year for the Brewers from 2019-2022 before being outrighted off the 40-man roster for 2023.

Unfortunately, he regressed nearly every year of his big league tenure. He came up in 2019, playing in 84 games and popping 19 home runs. In the COVID 2020 season, he hit 13 home runs in 59 games. Then in 2021, his offense cratered: He hit four home runs in 61 games and struggled to a .168 batting average. In 2022, he played in 80 games and hit 14 homers, but still batted just .226.

The strikeout has always been a major problem for Hiura. He led baseball in strikeouts during the COVID year, fanning 85 times in just the 60-game season.

The Angels are on the road at the Cubs this weekend.

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