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While the first Saturday of Summerfest was definitely affected by scorching temperatures, it didn’t stop a sizable crowd from flocking to the Generac Power Stage for a late afternoon set from rising star Iann Dior.
“It’s hot as a bitch out here. Not gonna lie.” he correctly asserted, about 20 minutes into his set in the 90+ degree heat.
To his credit, the pop/hip hop/emo hybrid didn’t visibly let the temperature get to him, other than taking his shirt off mid-set. Aided by only his DJ, who doubled as a hypeman, they managed to get the crowd at the Generac stage up and moving, which is often a hard feat to accomplish before the sun begins to set on most Summerfest nights.
Dior walked onstage fired up, albeit after a slight tech glitch kicked things off. Avoiding what could’ve been a stumble out of the gate, he launched into “Six Feet” from “Cycles,” his most recent album that dropped just a little over a week prior to the festival appearance. Saturday’s set featured several new songs from the album, many of which Dior admitted he hadn’t performed live until Summerfest. For the newer tracks, his vocals would appear in the backing track, guiding him into the verses. It was merely a backup option, though, as he ran across the stage, singing over them with plenty of confidence and not missing the majority of his words. If he was off, there were hundreds of fans ready to fill in the words for him, as well.
At one point, Dior noted that it was only his third day of touring behind the new album, but a steady cycle of playing shows has already given him plenty of confidence in his ability onstage and that shows. He would work his way back and forth across the stage for just about every song, only temporarily making pit stops to his mic stand in the middle. He and his DJ could work the crowd, especially on tracks like new single “Tattoos & U,” which already feels like it may become one of his biggest based on the crowd reaction.
Between songs, he would talk with the Generac stage crowd as if he was talking to only one person, coming off as blissfully uninformed at times, but always turning it around into something that would elicit a response.
“I heard you guys really like cheese out here…. Culvers?” he questioned, which drew a roar from the fans. “Uhh… Culvers!” he then replied, knowing that he would get them going again. Someone get this man a Butterburger.
While continuing to emerge, Dior already has a deep bag of songs that he can reach into. “Cycles” is his seventh project since emerging in 2019, and he also has a host of singles and guest appearances to draw from, as well. He would go back to the early days for “Flowers” from his “Industry Plant” album, and later on he would hit Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker-collaboration “Sick And Tired,” filling in the gaps where MGK would sing with his own vocals. None of it seemed to lull the crowd, who were quick to sing along, and yell for tracks from other previous projects when they had the chance to.
Just as things were winding down, the heat did start to take a toll on the stage. At the tail-end of an exceptionally bass-heavy mix of “Emotions,” the turntables would lose power, possibly overheating from the conditions. The track fell out of the PA on beat, though, so it sounded like it was the end of the song, until they realized that they couldn’t get any more of a signal from their backing track. Fortunately, the microphones were still working, allowing Dior and his DJ to fill time while techs quickly fixed the problem.
“We have two more very important songs to get off right now but…. Culvers!” Dior yelled, once again getting a roar. “I’m gonna need a promo from them after this.”
Thankfully, the turntables powered back on after about a minute, which gave them enough time to drop his feature on 24KGoldn’s “Mood,” the viral single that Dior is featured on. With limited time left, they quickly ran through Lil Baby-assisted track “Prospect,” with the DJ leaving the tables to jump around with Dior for the remainder of the set. He went out with a bang, with one of the biggest crowd reactions of the afternoon as he walked offstage.
While the heat certainly played a role in Saturday afternoon’s show, Iann Dior and his crowd didn’t let it phase them, at least for the hour that he was on stage. Dior only continues to elevate, so the next time that he plays Summerfest, it may very well be much later in the evening, and everyone likely won’t have the sun to contend with when he’s an eventual headliner.
