Beyond one big name band jumping ship at the last minute, it was otherwise smooth sailing Friday for day one of the new Minnesota Yacht Club Festival at St. Paul’s Harriet Island Regional Park.

Yacht Club, which continues Saturday, is the first major rock and pop festival on Harriet Island since Live Nation’s River’s Edge Music Festival in 2012. Despite promising St. Paul a five-year commitment, the concert promoting giant lost enough money to convince them to pull out after a single year.

Live Nation owns 51% of Yacht Club organizers C3 Presents, an Austin, Texas, company that’s also behind Austin City Limits Music Festival, Voodoo Music + Arts Experience and the modern-day Lollapalooza. But Live Nation apparently allows C3 to follow its own path.

Some concertgoers complained about food and drink prices, and long lines, but in terms of getting in and around the site, the infrastructure and general vibe, C3’s experience in mounting festivals became quite clear by late Friday afternoon, when Joan Jett and the Blackhearts played an hourlong set to a large, grinning and dancing crowd. (Organizers did not release an attendance number, but have said they expect more than 30,000 people each of the two days.)

On Thursday, Yacht Club’s social media announced reunited Southern rockers the Black Crowes had pulled out of their planned set at 8 p.m. Friday due to “illness in the band.” (The Crowes, however, did not address their absence online.) Rather than drafting an 11th hour replacement, the festival reworked the schedule and gave several acts more time on stage. Local band Durry got pushed nearly two hours later into the schedule for a set that started at 5:40, while Seattle indie folk act the Head and the Heart graduated to the Black Crowes’ planned 8 p.m. slot.

Local favorites Gully Boys opened the festival at 1 p.m. on the smaller stage followed by fellow homegrown act Harbor and Home on the main stage. From that point on, performances alternated between the two stages, with just minutes between bands.

Sets from buzzy country artist Morgan Wade and indie rockers Michigander paved the way for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, who earned cheers for their famous covers “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah),” “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “Crimson and Clover” and “Everyday People” as well as band originals “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and “Bad Reputation.” They also covered the Replacements’ “Androgynous,” with Jett giving a shout out to the late Minneapolis band and their leader Paul Westerberg.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter took the stage prior to Gwen Stefani’s performance and asked the crowd to applaud the police and other city workers who helped make the festival happen. He also suggested it would return for a second year in 2025.

Stefani — who was promoted as a headliner along with Friday’s final act Alanis Morissette and Saturday’s main attraction the Red Hot Chili Peppers — performed with dancers and video at what sounded like a louder volume than the previous bands. She told the audience her brother-in-law is from Minnesota, so that sort of makes her a local. She then pulled out her husband, former “The Voice” coach Blake Shelton, to sing their current single “Purple Irises.”

It’s been some 18 years since her last substantial solo hit, but Stefani has remained in the spotlight thanks to her high-profile husband and the semi-regular duet singles they’ve released over the last eight years. Stefani and her band No Doubt reunited in April to headline Coachella to much acclaim, but have yet to announce any future plans together. Whatever happens, Friday’s crowd — which was heavy on geriatric millennials and Gen Xers with a smattering of boomers — gave Stefani a warm reception that matched the ideal summertime weather that graced the festival on Friday.

The Minnesota Yacht Club Festival wraps things up Saturday with a bill that includes Soul Asylum, Hippo Campus, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, the Hold Steady, Gary Clark Jr., the Offspring and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

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