24-02-2010 Owl City

Supports: Lights; Venue: Melkweg, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

Owl City hits the charts nowadays with their hit “Fireflies”. As the band is currently touring in Europe they also made a visit to Amsterdam.

Support act of the evening was the Canadian formation Lights, which is an act around Valerie Poxleitner. How surprising can a support act be would you say, but there is something about Lights that is capturing the attention of the many visitors in this sold out venue. Valerie on the first place has a wonderful voice, which she combines with a lot of synths. Besides the fact that she know how to bring an interesting set, she is also blessed with a charisma that make people feel along with her when she talks to the audience. Only remark to make is that the vocals were quite soft in the mix, which was a shame as I wouldn’t mind hearing that voice a bit more to the foreground. A few visitors specially came for her, but many others were happy she has been there. A nice surprise.

Owl City had attracted a lot of people, recently the American act of Adam Young had hit the charts worldwide with “Fireflies” and it has been hard to miss out on them. Adam brought quite some instrumental backup. Besides a drummer and synths in the background there was also a cellist and violinist. The opening was strong and definitely a song that many people could sing along.

It was quite early in the set that the band played their hit which was echoed by the audience and the question rise; what else has this band to offer?
The atmosphere did not got back after this, the band has plenty other catchy songs left. Their second album “Ocean Eyes” was represented very well in the set list but some songs were taken from the first album. Adam never took much time in between the songs and kept on going with the music.

After one hour of listening to the Owl City’s sweet synth pop the lust is out of it. It should not have lasted much longer as all the songs have the air and attitude in the same direction. Nevertheless the band proved that they could entertain the audience longer and perhaps they won’t be a one hit wonder then. Some bonuspoints are earned by bringing the strings on the stage, this added a lot to the atmosphere and was not the most likely path Adam could have taken.