Aly & AJ and AJR perform virtually at the Spring Concert
The annual Spring Concert looked a little different this year with performances by Aly & AJ and AJR streamed online.
On Thursday, April 29, students gathered in the Field House, the Commons Tent, and online for the virtual spring concert. Before the opening
act, CEN showed an informational video that urged everyone to stay in their pods throughout the concert.
The concert started off with Aly & AJ singing “Pretty Places,” shouting out the university and playing their own guitars. The duo was accompanied by a live band throughout their whole set.
Aly & AJ played a total of twelve songs, including “Lost Cause” and “Break Yourself.” They also followed it up with “Rush,” which they stated was an old song, but both of them said it held a special place in their hearts. They added that they were glad that they wrote it because it had resonated with many people.
This was followed by “Slow Dancing,” the first single of their new record “A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun.”
After a few more songs, there was a slight break where Aly & AJ shared that they recorded their new album at Sunset Sound, the same studio
they were using to record for the concert. They also shared a fun factoid that “Stairway to Heaven” was recorded there as well.
The last five songs were played, including “Potential Breakup Song” as the finale. When their act was finally finished, the chat was swarmed with praise.
“An anthem thank you, queens, <3,” said sophomore El Segall.
Following Aly & AJ was AJR, who started at around 9:15 p.m. It seemed like the band was recording from a concert venue, and they began with an interesting intro that was accompanied by an electronic-sounding voice.
The first few songs after the intro were “Way Less Sad” and “Sober Up.” Before they started their next song “BANG!” that charted greatly, AJR spoke of their beginnings. They started out street performing in New York City in order to make money to buy a piano and computer.
After a short intersession, AJR played a number of songs, including “Netflix Trip” and “100 Bad Days.”
During the performance, student Daniel Pabon said, “How many Rs are too many for Banger? I think for AJR, there are never too many Rs.”
As the concert was finishing up, AJR showed the audience how they made “Burn The House Down,” then proceeded to play it. They apparently had wanted a “badass, dark sounding” bass line when they tried to figure out a beat.
It had not sounded like an AJR song yet, so they slowed down the tempo, but then it was too slow. At that point, they sped it up until they found a medium tempo. Eventually, they looked for a dirtier sounding high hat and added percussion. A unique instrument was wanted, and while they tried a cello, they wanted something more in your face.
It was never shared what unique instrument made it into the final song.
Finally, the concert finished up with AJR’s iconic song “Weak.”
The overall response was positive with those who attended virtually sharing their excitement through the chat.
“They made it seem like a live concert,” said sophomore Tyler Lamontagne.
Kyle Villella, sophomore, also said, “I thought it was a lot of fun having a virtual option. Overall such a great night. I’m so excited for the rest of the events.”
