X Ambassadors made Ohio University’s crowd feel “Gorgeous” on Monday night.
Starting at 8 p.m., X Ambassadors performed 11 songs off of its albums Love Songs Drug Songs, VHS and HS 2.0 to an almost full MemAud.
The band kicked off the show with its song “Jungle,” getting the crowd up and ready for the night ahead. The band was enthusiastic and the crowd reflected that.
The band continued the upbeat tone of the show with its song “Loveless,” which got the crowd even more excited than they already were.
Kat King, a 17-year-old from Detroit drove five hours to come to OU to see the passionate show that X Ambassadors put on.
“This is my 12th show,” King said. “They mean a lot to me so I follow them wherever they go.”
X Ambassadors’ opening band, Northern Faces, also got the crowd on their feet and moving around during their set.
“We’ve done tours similar to this in the past,” Bryan Shortell, the guitarist and vocalist for Northern Faces, said. “But college shows tend to get more enthusiastic.”
Northern Faces got the opportunity to play the show at OU Monday night as well as the show at York College of Pennsylvania on Sunday night with X Ambassadors after the previous opening band backed out, Matt Ippolito, the bassist for Northern Faces, said.
They hadn’t played a show in more than a year and Shortell said that when they got the call for the shows, they thought they had at least a few months to prepare, but had only days.
After the energetic performance of Northern Faces, the main act then performed a song it had done with Imagine Dragons called “Fear.” During the song, Sam Harris, vocalist and guitarist for X Ambassadors, pulled out his saxophone and added some jazz to the song.
Harris then lead into his next song talking about a bad hangover, asking if anyone in the crowd could relate to the experience.
“To all my lowlifes here tonight,” Harris said. “This is for you.”
This bit lead into their song “Low Life” performed on the album with Jamie N. Commons, then Harris gave another speech about their next song on the setlist, “Naked.”
The song is all about being who you are and being vulnerable with another person in a relationship he said, and he brought out his saxophone yet again.
“If you can be open, if you can be vulnerable to another person,” Harris said. “It can change your life.”
The last portion of the concert consisted of the more well-known songs of the band. Starting with their song “Gorgeous.”
“Ohio, can I tell you something?” Harris said. “You’re so gorgeous, you make me feel gorgeous.”
He dove into the song and ended the piece on his knees, and the next segment touched everyone in the audience.
The brother of Harris and the pianist for the group, Casey Harris, has Senior-Loken syndrome, which affects both his kidneys and vision. He can’t read anything on paper. He played a strong piano solo that had the crowd screaming before it lead into the hit song, “Unsteady.”
“Every time we come,” Sam Harris said. “We feel more and more at home.”
The band closed its set before the encore with their most well-known song, “Renegades.”
Harris went on telling the crowd that no matter their race, religion or what they identify as they should never be afraid to be who they are.
“The song is about not being afraid of who you are or where you came from,” Harris said. “You don’t have to be afraid.”
