Milwaukee turns out big for Bryson Tiller at Summerfest

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.

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.

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: