That Concert Was Fun(.)!

This post could get really difficult in terms of linguistics and punctuation if I don't address this early on: I went to see the band "fun." in concert Tuesday night. This post is a review of the entire experience. For the duration of this post, and with no disrespect meant toward the band as a whole nor anyone associated with "fun.", I am referring to them as "Fun".

And on behalf of texters and tweeters everywhere, this is my message to the band: capitalize the F and drop the punctuation. Look what eliminating the "!" from their name got Panic at the Disco - an outraged fanbase. Nevermind, don't use them as the standard. But still, make it easier for us, your fans, to tell people about you!

Fun played at Warehouse Live this past Tuesday night in Houston, and by the time the forgettable opening act was done and the roadies had set up the stage and tuned the instruments, the place was packed. How many of the audience in attendance knew more than Fun's hit single "We Are Young"? I don't know, but I'd venture to say that that song by itself attracted more than a few people.

On the subject of "We Are Young", this is the first concert I have been to where the band has had a song that is currently tearing up radio waves and accumulating millions of YouTube hits. Watching the faces of the band when they played the song, finally succumbing to the audience's most anxiously-awaited part of the show, was interesting. Each member seemed tired of the song, but pleased that the crowd was enjoying the experience so much and knew every word. From comments made by lead singer Nate Ruess earlier in the show, the large crowds and general fame is a new experience for the band as a whole, so I'm happy for them that they're getting the true "rockstar treatment".

From the second the band walked onto the stage and the lights blared on, the whole concert was incredible. The lead singer, Ruess (don't worry, I have no idea how to pronounce that either), drove the whole show's tempo and feel, and from start to finish did a masterful job of it. The first bunch of songs were all high-energy and made the crowd dance and sing along with the band.

Ruess doesn't play any instruments during the show, and I was curious how it would affect the on-stage chemistry of the band. For most shows that I have been to, the lead singer plays some sort of guitar, and is therefore tied down to the front-and-center position on the stage. However, given his freedom of movement, Ruess basically was the bridge between the band's wall of sound and the crowd, and he shined in the midst of that collision.

The star of the show was obviously and utterly Nathaniel Ruess. While watching him perform, I had (what I thought was) an original comparison: this man is the closest I will ever see to Freddie Mercury. Fun's lead singer, much like the legendary mouthpiece of the Arena-Rock-Mount-Rushmore band Queen, has a voice like a canary, acts out the lyrics and emotions of the songs while he is singing on-stage, and has songs that are so dramatic that they deserve makeup and a cast to do them justice. However, the comparison between Ruess and Mercury is so common and well-documented that it is even featured on Ruess' wikipedia page. So much for an "original" idea.

The biggest surprise of the show was Fun's guitarist, Jack Antonoff. He was a ball of energy, shined in each solo he got to wail on, and looked like a mix between Ross Geller (Friends) and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino to boot.

All in all, Fun was a lot of, well, fun! Their tour is just starting up, and if you get a chance to see them, I would highly recommend going to see them!

Ben Rector and Needtobreathe Concert!

Wednesday night, NEEDTOBREATHE (don't worry, I will refer to them in a less-enthusiastic way for the duration of this post) and Ben Rector started their tour in Houston. And I went! It was one of the best concerts I've been to in a long time, and here are my thoughts about the highlights.

First off, both Ben Rector and Needtobreathe lead singer Bear Rinehart have the vocal strength and style that makes the live experience more like a CD-listening party than an unfortunate karaoke night. Both guys sounded so good throughout the night, and their voices being so strong really led the audience into a sing-along concert feeling.

For Ben Rector's portion of the concert, he did a great job of just being an opening act. He enlisted the help of the crowd to sing the chorus of one of his songs. He did his traditional impromptu writing of a third verse via audience suggestion. His finale song was a classy, timely cover of the late Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)". And through all of this, he got to show off his stellar vocal range and tone.

Then Needtobreathe came on and just blew my expectations out of the water. If you closed your eyes, you definitely could've convinced yourself that they just played the CD over the speakers. They rocked hard, Bear's voice rang out loud and growly over the top of all the music. The guys looked like a bundle of nervous energy (with it being the first night of the tour, that's totally cool with me), and every guitar solo and breakdown section of a song was pumped so full of energy and just pure rock 'n' roll. The band is going to get used to the crowd knowing every lyric through the rest of this tour - it seemed to kind of catch Rinehart off-guard when the crowd was effectively drowning him out at points.

With that slight negative aside, the connection between crowd and band was strong - and definitely escalated as the concert went on. This all culminated when, during the encore when all 5 guys were playing unplugged in a tight semicircle, the entire audience collectively shut up and just...listened. Rinehart, having stepped away from his turned-down microphone, belted out the refrain of the studly chorus from "Slumber". The emotional connection between the crowd and the singer at that point in time is something I've never felt before. Then, the band hit a final chord and walked off the stage, and the audience just kind of sat stunned before coming to our collective senses and applauding. I know that concerts are largely a practice in crowd manipulation, but that refreshing take on an encore didn't seem forced - it seemed natural and just special, honestly.

All told, the concert was an incredible experience. It combined the luxuries of a big-time concert with all the intimacy of a living room jam session. If you have a chance to see this tour when they come (near) to you, I highly suggest you take the time. If this post catches you a day or two late, never fear! that's what iTunes (or let's be honest: Spotify - welcome to 2012) is for! Check out any and all of both these bands' music, I can assure you that you won't be disappointed.