I couldn’t believe my eyes: Adam Young, iconic musician, was only feet away from me on Oct. 14 when Owl City played Columbus, Ohio’s Express LIVE! with opener Matthew Theissan and the Earthquakes.
Owl City, Adam Young’s musical project, blew up in 2009 when the hit song “Fireflies” quickly topped the charts. Since then, other hit songs such as “Good Time” and “When Can I See You Again?” from Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph. Young’s musical talents don’t end with upbeat bangers, though — he’s got some more somber tunes as well, such as old-time favorite “Vanilla Twilight” and a newer, emotional song “Be Brave.”
Going to an Owl City show in 2018 was, unsurprisingly, kind of strange. There was a decent amount of children, on top of plenty of teenagers and a few adults. And although it was weird, it was interesting to be part of something that reminded me so much of my younger life.
Matthew Theissan and the Earthquakes opened up the show with an acoustic set that was both down-to-earth and light on the ears, before Young came out on stage to perform.
Young’s on-stage setup, which was elegantly adorned with florals, was packed full of musical instruments that he was continuously running back and forth from in order to play songs on (although he did have some help from his backing band).
Young was touring in support his new album Cinematic, which came out this year. For me, the downside of this was that, as someone who mostly only ever listened to his 2009 album Ocean Eyes, I was unfamiliar with most of the songs that were performed (which, in hindsight, I should have expected because the tour was titled The Cinematic Tour).
One of my favorite moments during the show was when Young performed “Be Brave” and a number of the audience members held up paper hearts with the name of the song written on them. It was a surreal moment that really showed the impact that this musician has had on his fan, and it was heartwarming to be part of.
Young obviously loves what he does: his face was vibrant with happiness the entirety that he was on stage and his presence was electric. Many say that Owl City was a one-hit wonder with “Fireflies,” but Young won’t let that stop him from slaying the stage.
