Owl City: Talent All Around

As expected of most concerts, Owl City started late. But the mix of people awaiting the band at The Coliseum, Hard Rock Café Sentosa on 21 May didn’t seem to mind too much. The half-hour wait in the sticky night was well worth it to experience Owl City “live”..

This isn’t the first time that Owl City landed on our island. The first was in 2013, where they were the opening act to Justin Bieber at Singapore Grand Prix’s closing concert. But this time, they’re back with the whole stage to themselves.

The crowd whiled away the time waiting for the band by sipping on sodas and beers and taking selfies – a lot of selfies. We won’t soon forget the ones who took countless photos of their Owl City lightsticks to commemorate the night. The anticipation peaked when a member of the crew ‘snuck’ up on stage to check the instruments. He didn’t even seem surprised when screams greeted him. Maybe this happens often.

Officially, Owl City only consists Adam Young, a singer-songwriter hailing from a small town in Minnesota. But 4 talented musicians join him to make up a 5-man band when he goes on tour. Each member commands the attention of the audience in their own ways: stunning riffs from Jasper Nephew, explosive percussions from Gabriel Hagen, a driving bass line from Rob Morgan and subtle synthesizer sounds from Breanne Duren.

Young finally took the stage surrounded by smoke, strobe lights and screams of excitement before he immediately launched into ‘Angels’ His voice never faltered as hit every note. Now that’s a display of sheer talent.

Through the concert, Young switched between 3 guitars (handed to him by everyone’s favorite crew member) and when he didn’t have one in his hand, he clung to his microphone stand. He held on as if his life depended on it, though we ain’t complaining. His tight grip really accentuated his muscles.

Jokes aside, we wonder if he was wilting under the heat of Singapore in the hoodie he wore. It certainly didn’t help that he was feeling ill too (though his voice didn’t belie that).

While Owl City himself was definitely the main attraction, the other band members didn’t lack fans. In Hagen’s case, we mean it literally. An electric fan was hidden behind the drum set he played on, causing his frizzy hair to halo his head. But Hagen’s skills on the drums didn’t get eclipsed by his mane and he impressed with impeccable timing and sheer power.

Nephew was greeted by screams of “We love you, Jasper!” when he appeared on stage. Unfortunately, we don’t think he heard the declarations of love over the sounds of the electric guitar he played like an extension of himself. Our favorite Nephew moment: when he strummed his guitar with a violin bow, creating a sound that’s entirely different from the usual riffs. By the end of the night, the bow sported some snapped hairs – proof of how intensely he shredded.

But we have to say that the keyboardist was our favorite. Duren was a splash of color with her turquoise top beside her band mates, who were all decked out in shades of gray. She was perky on stage, bouncing with the rhythm and her voice was simply adorable.

Despite not feeling his best, Owl City gave us an amazing show regardless. Songs flowed seamlessly into the next and the numerous moments of the audience’s ‘karaoke session’ were beautiful. The set ended with an encore performance of “Good Time” (with Duren singing Carly Rae Jepsen’s part) and it was clear – the audience certainly had a good time.

Set List:

• Intro
• Angels
• Up All Night
• Dreams and Disasters
• Dementia
• Speed of Love
• Beautiful Times
• Cave In
• Designer Skyline
• Shooting Star
• Kamikaze
• Meteor Shower
• This Isn’t the End
• Sky Diver
• Fireflies
• Gold
• Take It All Away
• Deer in the Headlights
• Wolf Bite
• Tokyo
• Hello Seattle

Encore:

• Good Time