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X Ambassadors Atlanta concert opened tenderly as singer Sam Harris escorted his brother, Casey, across the stage to the keyboard. Fans know that Casey has been blind since birth, and both brothers acknowledged the tremendous applause. And then what? Why not start with arguably their most familiar song, “Renegade?” That’s confidence considering most bands might slot it at the end of the set or in the encore. Played first, the audience is all in.
Their new album, Townie, also speaks of confidence. How else can one describe following up the bravely adventurous concept album, The Beautiful Liar, with a personally reflective themed album of growing up in Ithaca, NY? The album is musically aligned with their earlier albums that gave the band their start, but more personal in context. How does that play with the rest of the band’s songs?
Over the course of their 90 minute show, the band would play seven songs from their new album. Two followed the opening song, and Sam would later explain his rush to escape the town he grew up in for NYC and LA only to find that he really appreciates where and how he grew up. Live, he provided a back-story, engaging the audience in a way to understand the sincerity of the lyrics as well as the emotion that he brings to every song. You couldn’t ignore his brother, Casey, playing melodic tones on the keys through each of Sam’s narratives, a great touch, perhaps speaking to the same theme without words. Humor was a big part as well, such as, “I love a good love song. I love a good breakup song,” when introducing “Half-Life.”
All the songs worked well together, which speaks to the strength of their new album as the band doesn’t play the same songs each night. Highlights included the “home” themed intro to “Your Town,” the spotlight on the brothers on the Sam wrote about Casey, “Follow the Sound of My Voice,” and “Happy People,” which was on point for the crowd reaction for that song and through the evening.
The band sounded great, of course, highlighting each song but without any showboating, which really doesn’t suit the songs. And the closing sequence of songs (set list below) is a great way to close a performance. It was going to be a good show with enjoyable songs, regardless, but Sam’s interactions with the crowd elevated the experience to memorable.
Setlist:
Encore:
New West, X Ambassadors opener? A little research is required. Winners of this year’s Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year. Alright!
Sample their songs and… yeah, they’re good. Indie, alternative… Shades of Chris Martin of Coldplay on a couple songs? Yeah, in a good way.
A “collective that consists of a guitarist (playing but seated due to a very recently broken leg), a drummer and a bassist. Vella, Ben Key and Noel West. So far, it’s not clear which names belong to each member of the band (they avoid the B word).
Live, not Coldplay, a good thing. The fourth member is Kala Wita, the collective’s singer whose playground is the remainder of the stage. He plays keys also because someone has to? But even then, he keeps one foot out, eager to resume his R&B influenced front-man explosiveness.
Tons of fun to watch and engaging in all the right ways, even doing selfie vids for the audience with their phones while not interrupting his constant movement around the stage.
A few more songs and they’ll be headlining. Looking forward to hearing more from this band and capturing more moments!
