Despite storms and sickness, SZA gave Summerfest (and Kim Kardashian) a show for the ages

Piet Levy, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Updated June 25, 2024 at 10:18 PM·6 min read

R&B and pop superstar SZA's Milwaukee debut at Summerfest Saturday night was guaranteed to be a memorable night. But who thought it would be that memorable?

Warning messages about incoming storms had already popped up on screens at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater during a DJ's set. Then SZA's opener, singer and rapper Aminé, put his set on pause at 8:22 p.m., about 10 minutes after he started — due, he said to "lightning and the weather." He promised he would be back soon — but wasn't seen on the stage again.

About three minutes later, a message appeared on amphitheater screens reporting that the festival was being evacuated. Boos and cries for SZA had already surged across the filled-to-capacity amphitheater when Aminé left, but this news prompted an even louder outcry.

But it was a false alarm. The written warning message about the evacuation was swiftly taken down — it initially was put up mistakenly — with multiple announcements stressing that the festival was not being evacuated. That triggered cheers so loud it was as if the Packers had just won the Super Bowl.

Fans exposed to the elements on the hills and bleachers took shelter under the roof in the amphitheater's lower bowl, or they left for shelter elsewhere, as fierce storms rolled in around 8:45 p.m., shutting down all the stages and forcing the festival to close the gates. An hour later, the gates reopened, and a DJ at the amphitheater started blasting party anthems.

And then Kim Kardashian strolled in.

Yep, one of the most famous people on the planet opted to see SZA at Summerfest in Milwaukee instead of in London next week or Lollapalooza in Chicago in August. Around 10:15 p.m., she strolled along the walkway between the 100 sections and 200 sections, surrounded by staff (and a very scary, screaming personal security guard), as fans tried to surround her and take phones out for pics and videos, as she took a sequestered spot with a friend by the soundboard.

Miss @KimKardashian walked right in front of my daughter at the @sza concert @Summerfest!

(Video courtesy: @Kate_Sutton12) pic.twitter.com/P1SYSgIqIB
— Stephanie Sutton (@Steph__Sutton) June 23, 2024

All of this contributed to making June 22 one of the weirdest and wildest nights in Summerfest's 56-year history.

But here's the thing: When SZA finally did take the stage at 10:35 p.m., wrapping up the show just two minutes before the mandated midnight curfew, her performance eclipsed everything else.

It, too, will be immortalized in the Summerfest history books.

And it almost didn't happen, not just because of the storms.

SZA makes her Milwaukee debut at Summerfest's American Family Insurance Amphitheater on Saturday, June 22, 2024.

Onstage, SZA revealed that she was recovering from a bad cold and had strongly considered canceling the show, thinking her singing would falter.

Taking that into account, her recovery, and concert, was nothing short of immaculate.

For devastated break-up ballad "Nobody Gets Me" from her blockbuster 2022 album "SOS," about her split with her ex-fiancé, about being forsaken by the only person who truly understood her. The deceptive radiance of her voice made the pain of her words all the more palpable, to the point that multiple people around me, belting the song back at the stage, were in tears.

And despite SZA's concerns, her voice was exquisite on every song, whether she was pleading "Can you make me happy?" on "SOS" song "Ghost in the Machine," or succumbing to self-destruction on the deceptively peppy "F2F."

She was in such great vocal command that SZA also confidently offered some electric new interpretations for her biggest hit, and Milwaukee's second-most popular song on Spotify last year, "Kill Bill" — singing "Damn" with far more exasperation than on the recording, and substituting the cool closing phrasing of "Rather be in hell than alone" on the record with an anguished vocal run that tapped into the internal misery behind the icy song's disturbed murderous fantasy.

Between the storms and Kim Kardashian sighting, last night @Summerfest was one for the books. And so was an unforgettable performance from @sza in her Milwaukee debut. My review @journalsentinel https://t.co/UuxgNyQxNx pic.twitter.com/I4jocONT6C
— Piet Levy (@pietlevy) June 23, 2024

On top of sounding great, SZA put her whole body into the show.

During "Low," she hopped on a suspended wrecking ball as she sang, then after she hopped off, effortlessly slid into the splits. She dropped to her knees, emphasizing the weight of her words, as she sang "Drew Barrymore" and "I Hate U." She matched the sharpness of her five choreographed dancers during Kendrick Lamar collaboration "All The Stars," then — showing she's not taking sides in the Lamar-Drake war — wilded out with the dancers through the raunchy Drake and Sexyy Red collaboration "Rich Baby Daddy."

And she fed off her guitarist's insatiable energy during "Garden (Say It Like Dat)" from her debut album "CTRL," belting blissfully as her guitarist fiercely shredded and dropped to her knees, before coolly lifting her back up to her feet with a slight stroke of her finger on her guitarist's chin.

More: The Goo Goo Dolls, Black Pumas and the best and worst of Summerfest 2024's first Saturday

More: Summerfest to resume performances while concerts postponed at Alpine Valley, Tacos and Tequila Fest

SZA's four musicians were all exceptional, like their leader, giving the material some new meaning, like some extra dreamy keys that accompanied "Snooze" Saturday.

And her set — which was used, SZA, said, for the very last time at Summerfest — was among the most vibrantly executed modern-day pop spectacles, with video walls and staging effortlessly morphing into new spellbinding backdrops — from the inner workings of a submarine, to an industrial mine, to a breathtaking starry sky, with reflections of digital fireworks shimmering on digital waves below SZA's feet.

And as SZA threatened to blow through that curfew with a gorgeously sung "20 Something," she added some improvised lyrics thanking the crowd for staying out late and sticking it out through the storm.

They were greatly rewarded for their patience — with one of the most memorable shows, on one of the most memorable nights, that Summerfest has ever, or will ever, have.