Correction appended.
Liv Rees has seen Ohio music-duo Caamp before, but she is more than excited to watch them perform live again.
“I like that type of music,” Rees, a junior studying civil engineering, said. “They sound the same live, and they’re just two guys, but they are really talented.”
Ohio duo Caamp will be returning to Athens to perform at The Union Bar & Grill, 18 W. Union St., for its third year Thursday and Friday.
The band was originally scheduled to perform only on Friday with special guest The Crooked Spines, but tickets have been sold out for Friday’s live performance due to the high demand. Instead, the band added a second show Thursday. Tickets for the band’s Thursday live performance is still on sale and will feature special guest Speaking Suns. Tickets cost $10 for general admission and can be purchased through Ticketfly.
The band consists of two members: Evan Westfall and Taylor Meier, who play the banjo and guitar, respectively. Although the two grew up as childhood friends in Upper Arlington, they only began writing music together in 2012. In 2015, the two gave a name to their performing act and “Caamp” was formed, according to band’s website. The duo released their self-titled debut record in March 2016 and has been performing since then.
Rees first saw Caamp perform live at music festivals back in her hometown Gallipolis. Last year, Rees attended the band’s second performance at The Union and enjoyed watching the band perform again.
“Both times I got to talk to them, and I thought that was really cool,” Rees said.
Caamp has more than one million listeners on Spotify, and the band’s songs “Vagabond” and “Misty” have both been played more than four million times.
Patrick Diller, a local baker, has not heard of Caamp before, but is excited that the band will be performing at The Union.
“The Union is one of Athens’ greatest music venues. It’s kind of an Athens stalwart, it is a music venue that artists want to come play at,” Diller said. “We want to hear all kind of different music. They have hosted all kinds of music upstairs from punk rock to Swedish ballads ... it is Athens.”
Ariana Ehrhart, a sophomore studying creative writing, said she has a fun time whenever she goes to The Union with friends on the weekends. She has attended a live performance by Caamp before and is excited to see the band as she really enjoys the its music.
“I like seeing them live because they have a nice performance ... and the way that they handle it on stage is really fun,” Ehrhart said.
Caamp is currently on a nationwide tour with Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Its tour begins in Athens and ends on May 12 at San Diego, California. Tickets for many of the venues have already been sold out.
Rees said it’s “awesome” that Caamp performs in both bigger and smaller venues and said she’s glad she got to watch the band perform in her small hometown twice and once in Athens. Rees, whose favorite song is “Hey Joe,” finds the band to be very authentic and said the “singer-songwriter” feel in Caamp’s music is unique to the band.
“It’s really simple, but it’s really complex,” Rees said.
— Mae Yen Yap contributed to this report
Correction: A previous version of this report misspelled Ariana Ehrhart's name. The article has been updated to reflect the most accurate information.
