By Kendyl Hardy | September 27, 2021
After two years of live music coming to a halt, AJR held their first tour this fall for their OK Orchestra album.
Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met brought their music to Albany, N.Y. on Thursday evening.
Cheers, laughter, and dubstep reached thousands of ears at the Times Union Center on Pearl Street.
Loud music and impressive light techniques made this concert an amazing one. With screens that portrayed a 3D man and interactive backgrounds with abstract patterns, the AJR brothers introduced each song with their own unique light show.
AJR are three guys who make sure that people don’t feel alone when listening to their music. This is evident in their performance too. They took the time to assure people who are living with these mental illnesses are heard. During the show, Jack Met took a few minutes to speak of the struggles of someone with OCD and anxiety can experience.
Not only do they include intricate lights and upbeat music to their show, they also give attention to their fans and invite them to also be a part of their performance. Jack Met called on several people who stood out in the audience. One of these incidents was a woman with a pool blow up toy who had to explain why she had something for the beach at the concert. As the band tried to continue to poke fun at her, she explained that she brought it so they would talk to her. At this time, they couldn’t continue with the bit because they played right into her plan.
Comedy was also a huge part of the show; the band was giving jokes throughout the duration of the performance, spreading laughter throughout the center. One of the main jokes in the production was one about their meeting Elton John. When introducing themselves to Elton John for the first time, the Met brothers were mistaken by Elton John for the country singers Dan + Shay. Instead of pointing the well-known musician to the actual Dan + Shay, AJR took Elton John’s compliments as their own.
AJR, however, wasn’t alone in this concert. Arnetta Johnson, their trumpet player and Chris Berry, their drummer, both had chances to show off their talent in their respective instruments. Both Johnson and Berry performed solo acts, Chris Berry gave several impressive drum solos throughout the show, and Arnetta Johnson had her own time to shine on stage when she played parts of every past AJR song in a highlight of their previous albums.
Their opening acts, Daisy the Great and The Aces, got the crowd amped up for the main act. Every song that Daisy the Great sang, except two, was unreleased. The two singers also got to step on stage alongside the AJR brothers to sing a new version of “Record Player” by Daisy the Great. The Aces, with club-like music, got the crowd to form a small mosh pit that lasted throughout the rest of the concert.
With dancing people, great music, and a performance that will stay in your brain for a lifetime, AJR’s OK Orchestra concert is one that deserves the highest praise.
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