Now, I need to give some background first. I'd seen We the Kings once before their performance on August 6th. It was about a year and a half ago in St. Louis and, while I loved their music, I didn't have the highest expectations for their live show.
I had been going to a lot of pop-punk shows, and all of them had ended up pretty lackluster. I expected the same from We the Kings, but they completely blew me away. This time around, with my last experience of We the Kings in mind, I had very high expectations for the concert. And I was far from disappointed.
Opening for We the Kings were Action Item, The Downtown Fiction, Hot Chelle Rae, and the Summer Set. My concert companion and I missed the Action Item and most of The Downtown Fiction, but the crowd already seemed pretty amped when we got there, so I'm assuming both bands put on a good show.
Unfortunately, the venue hosting the concert, St. Paul's Station 4, lacks air conditioning. Consequently, it was about a million degrees inside, so we spent Hot Chelle Rae's set listening from outside where it was significantly cooler (despite still being in the 80s). Hot Chelle Rae sounded great and, when we went back inside for the last bit of their set, the crowd seemed to be enjoying them thoroughly.
Following Hot Chelle Rae was The Summer Set, and they were fantastic. They sounded great and were troopers through the boiling conditions within the venue, even while much of the crowd wasn't. Really, my only disappointment with the night was the fact that the audience never got overly into the performances. Everyone looked like they were enjoying the performances, but, for the most part, people just stood there instead of dancing.
The Summer Set at first seemed a little frustrated by this, but I think they realized pretty quickly that the reason for the lack of movement from the crowd was the heat in the venue and not lack of interest in the band. I felt they even stepped it up for the second half of their set as a way to say thanks to everyone for enduring the heat to see them. Personally, I was a little bummed that they didn't play my favorite of their songs (Passenger Seat), but they had a solid set, and were fun to watch, so I can't complain about one song not being performed.
Finally, it was time for We the Kings. And once they took the stage, I did not stop moving for the next hour (which I'm pretty sure annoyed all the people around me who insisted on standing still).
We the Kings were absolutely brilliant. They played a great selection of songs from all three of their albums (including all of my favorites!), and were very sincere when they'd break between songs to talk to the crowd. And, of course, they actually seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. I've seen bands that will say from stage how much they love performing, but look absolutely miserable while onstage. We the Kings is not one of those bands. They make it completely evident how much they appreciate their fans, and how much pride and enjoyment they find in making those fans happy. Stage presence is an extremely important factor of live music for me, and We the Kings has it in abundance.
From beginning to end, We the Kings put on a fun, energetic, and entertaining show, even despite the heat and a couple of technical difficulties. There was one odd part where singer/frontman Travis Clark decided to give a spiel about the birds and the bees, but it was funny and led into a good song, so I can look past that. Overall, though, it was one of the most fun concerts I'd been to in quite some time. If you ever get a chance to see either The Summer Set or We the Kings live, I definitely recommend you take advantage of the opportunity.
Oh, and you know it was brutally hot in the venue when both The Summer Set (from Arizona) and We the Kings (from Florida) commented that it was the hottest show they'd ever played. Well done, Minnesota.
No comments:
Post a Comment