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Seven years ago, an emerging band called MUNA played Summerfest in an 8:30 p.m. slot, opening for Bleachers on the Miller Lite Oasis stage. I actually remember being there with fellow OnMilwaukeean Matt Mueller and mentioning that the band was good, but then we moved on to other things before our headliners for the night.
On Thursday night, MUNA headlined the BMO Pavilion and reaffirmed what we should have known then: Leaving the 2017 gig was a really bad decision on our behalf.
This, however, was a much stronger MUNA than the guitar-oriented pop band that was cutting their teeth in 2017. The band is now three albums deep, playing major festivals worldwide and serving as the openers for Taylor Swift on several stops on the “Eras” tour. They used that stadium-level experience on Thursday to deliver a tight set in every aspect, igniting shrieks from a full seating bowl at just about every turn.
Before the house lights even dropped, the screams were starting as touring bassist Geo Botelho made his way onto one of the risers behind the band. By the time the lights dropped and the trio walked out on stage, those screams were deafening, drowning out parts of synth-heavy banger “What I Want.” The screams didn’t stop as the band slid into “Number One Fan” almost immediately, keeping the energy as high as possible without a second to take it all in.
Playing the big stadiums has certainly worked to the advantage of the band, who made sure to never lose the interest of the BMO Pavilion crowd for over an hour on Thursday. Lead singer Katie Gavin was the main attraction for the crowd, turning up the Pavilion decibel levels whenever she dropped a dance move or made any sort of motion that was even vaguely suggestive. The rest of the band followed suit, with guitarist Josette Maskin and Botelho sprinting from side to side, covering as much ground as possible throughout the night. Gavin would get up close and personal with both Maskin and guitarist/synth player Naomi McPherson, and any time two or more of the trio interacted with each other, you could see the chemistry that they carry as a unit and how it resonated with the fans.
“If you guys dance hard enough to this one, I’m gonna take my pants off!” Gavin shouted before the band dropped into “Stayaway.” Midway through the song, she obliged, igniting the crowd even further. There was a playfulness about everything that the band did that felt like they were having as much fun as possible on stage, all while keeping the crowd moving.
The only slowdown of the night came via an out-of-tune guitar, which Gavin donned for “Kind of Girl” and “Taken” in the middle of the set. While the band quickly fumbled with the guitar before a tech came out to fix the situation, they joked with one another without much really to say in the moment. They would quip that it became a live version of their “Gayotic” podcast, before quickly getting back into the acoustic numbers. The BPMs came up for the rest of the night.
“Home By Now” saw Gavin and Maskin literally grab-assing their way through the song, with attempts to pinch one another as often as possible. Maskin then would reveal that the band was currently in the process of making its fourth album, and that Summerfest was a refreshing chance for them to get back out in front of fans – all before playing “One That Got Away,” their most recent single before starting the new album cycle. MUNA seems most comfortable live, and Thursday night’s set may have been a cathartic release from the pressures of writing and recording new music. They would close on “I Know A Place,” a song about LGBTQ+ safety that was one of their first singles, and then the Phoebe Bridgers-assisted breakout “Silk Chiffon,” giving the Pavilion one last chance to sing along at full voice.
MUNA is certainly thriving right now, and you got that impression from everything that they did on Thursday night. When the band is having fun on stage, everyone in the crowd is having fun off of it, as well. MUNA is most certainly not the same band that played the Miller Lite Oasis in 2017, and they’re poised for some of the biggest headlining stages possible in the coming years.
