Summer Jam – June 20-21, 2025 at the Eau Claire Event District, Eau Claire, WI

Summer Jam – June 20-21, 2025 at the Eau Claire Event District, Eau Claire, WI

Review and photos by Jim Zons

The greater Eau Claire area of Wisconsin has been home to a number of music festivals for more than 20 years:  Country Fest and Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin; Blue Ox Festival and Country Jam in Eau Claire, WI; and now the newest festival this summer: the appropriately named “Summer Jam” at the Eau Claire Event District (new home of Country Jam) in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

I’ve always felt that there was a missed opportunity in the area to have a classic rock festival, especially since Rock Fest has shifted away from more of the classic rock and pop bands they used to feature 15-20 years ago, so I was pretty excited to hear them announce Summer Jam during the 2024 County Jam festival at the new Eau Claire Event District.  The event district was primarily constructed as the new home for Country Jam (which used to be held in a cramped campground location near the Chippewa River for many years) so the facility was built with a LOT of amenities for the concert goer in mind, and I knew that opening up the grounds to a new music festival only made sense.

I would describe the lineup of music for the first ever Summer Jam as a blend of primarily classic rock and classic pop.  The festival kicked off on Friday, June 20, with the hip hop duo, MKTO, whose set was plagued by technical issues, so they ended up performing a very short set.

Next up:  Everclear.  Everclear was started by Art Alexakis in Portland, OR in 1992, and saw most of their commercial success in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  The current band is still fronted by Art Alexakis, and they put on a fun show at Summer Jam, playing hits like “Father of Mine” and “Wonderful.”

After the next break, it was time for Gavin DeGraw.  When I first saw his name in the lineup, I said, “who’s that??” He’s one of those guys whose songs you know, but you didn’t know who performed them, at least for me! The guy sure can sing and play the keys!  He gave a rollicking performance featuring hits like “In Love with a Girl,” “Not Over You,” “Follow Through,” and by far his biggest hit from 2008: “I Don’t Want To Be.”

Taking the stage at 7:15 after Gavin DeGraw was the band +LĪVE+ who has been around in various forms since 1984. Today’s lineup features original lead vocalist Ed Kowalczyk as well as his younger brother Adam and other supporting musicians.  As the second to the last band on Friday, their set went for well over an hour, and sounded amazing, with rock music radio staples like “Selling the Drama,” “All Over You” and a three song encore featuring two of their biggest hits: “I Alone” and “Lightning Crashes.”

Finally, it was time for Friday’s headliner: Lynyrd Skynyrd. Skynyrd has been around since 1968 and of course lost key members of the band in a plane crash in 1977 after which they stopped performing. When the band reunited in 1987 for a reunion tour, original lead singer Ronnie Van Zant who was killed in the plane crash was replaced by Ronnie’s younger brother Johnny Van Zant who is still with the band today. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this show as much as I did, but WOW: the set sounded amazing and was an electrifying mix of classic AM radio rock staples from the 1970s.  It’s shocking how many hits Skynyrd had in such a short time, and the band played the best of them at Summer Jam: “What’s Your Name,” “You Got That Right,” “That Smell,” “Tuesday’s Gone,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “Sweet Home Alabama” … frankly the entire set was made up of hit songs!  The encore, of course, was an extended version of “Free Bird,” and was the perfect way to close out the first night of Summer Jam.

Before I get into talking about the Saturday performances, I wanted to comment on how absolutely AMAZING the sound mix was for this festival.  I have NEVER heard an outdoor music festival that sounded as good, or perfectly mixed as Summer Jam.  I’m not sure who was doing sound for this festival, but EVERY performer sounded simply incredible.  A couple of my friends who play in local bands including one guy who used to own a live sound business both said the same thing: it was the best sounding live music festival they had ever attended and they were both equally blown away as I was at how good it sounded. It made everything that much more enjoyable.

Friday Gallery

Saturday’s concert started off with a band I never cared to see live, nor thought I would ever see live … but I did: Wang Chung!  Wang Chung has been around since the early 1980s in London, and that is the era of their biggest success, with hits like “To Live and Die in LA,” “Let’s Go!” “Dance Hall Days,” and 1986’s “Everybody Have Fun Tonight.” Original bassist Nick Feldman and lead vocalist/guitarist Jack Hues still front the band, and my initial surprise was seeing a guitar player and bass player out front considering their music is so heavy on the keyboards. My second surprise?  How much I LOVED these guys!  The music sounded great, their patter in between songs was entertaining, and it was just a lot of fun!  The only disappointment was the fact that their set was maybe only 40 minutes long (of course, what do you expect for a band that plays at 2pm in the afternoon!)  This was my surprise favorite band of Summer Jam!

Next up:  the Marshall Tucker Band.  The Marshall Tucker Band has been around since 1972, and got its name from a name that was on a key for an old warehouse they had rented as a rehearsal location in their native South Carolina!  Today, the only original member still with the band is lead singer Doug Gray, who was on stage at Summer Jam with an outstanding set of musicians. I think this is probably the only rock performance I’ve ever heard that featured a flute solo on almost every song!  Even before Lynyrd Skynyrd arrived on the scene, it was the Marshall Tucker Band that really put the Southern Rock sound in the mainstream in the early 1970s, and at Summer Jam we got to hear live performances of some of those early 1970s classics like “Heard It In A Love Song,” “Fire On The Mountain, and ”Can’t You See,”  and a few songs I wasn’t familiar with, but really enjoyed, like “Cattle Drive.”

Keeping the retro theme going, next on stage was Rick Springfield.  I’ve seen Rick perform at least four times in the past, and he always brings a ton of energy to every performance, and Summer Jam was no exception! He had his biggest hits in the early 1980s, but actually has been playing music since the late 60s. Lots of people remember his recurring role on General Hospital as Dr Noah Drake so I don’t think he’s ever gotten as much credit as he deserves for his musical talents.  Those talents were on display at Summer Jam with a great catalog of hits including “Affair of the Heart,” “I’ve Done Everything For You,” (which is actually a Sammy Hagar cover!) “Don’t Talk To Strangers,” “Human Touch,” and of course “Jessie’s Girl.” Dude has a TON of energy and looks and sounds amazing for someone who’s 75 years old!  One thing I really appreciated is that Rick talked quite extensively during his performance about suffering from depression, his struggles, and that people need to seek help when they need it. Depression isn’t talked about enough, and I think it can reach other sufferers when they realize that even big-name performers also suffer from depression.

Finally, it was time for one of my favorite bands:  Collective Soul.  Even though they are one of my favorites, I’ve only seen them one other time: they gave a special concert during the Leinenkugels 150th anniversary celebration in Chippewa Falls in 2017.  Eight years later, at Summer Jam, they put on a helluva show!  Collective Soul formed in Georgia in 1992, and still features brothers Ed and Dean Roland as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, and they haven’t lost a step as they took the crowd through their biggest hits from the 1990s and early 2000s like “Heavy,” “The World I Know,” “Shine,” “December,” and “Where the River Flows.” It was a fantastic show!

Saturday’s headliner was a band I’ve never seen before: The Black Crowes.  Another band from Georgia, they’ve been around since 1984. The band has gone through several lineups, but brothers Chris and Rich Robinson have been the driving force and creative energy behind the band since the beginning.  The Summer Jam set was jam packed with their biggest hits over 30 years of chart toppers, like “Twice As Hard,” “Seeing Things,” “Hard To Handle,” “She Talks To Angels,” and closing out the night with “Jealous Again.”

And thus ended the first ever Summer Jam music festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  Final overall assessment:  a great mix of classic rock and pop performers, outstanding facilities (great food and beverages in VIP!), and the BEST sound mix I’ve ever heard in an outdoor venue.  I can’t wait for Summer Jam 2026 in Eau Claire!

Saturday gallery.