Friday night brought back familiar faces to Columbus with Red Wanting Blue headlining a three-band show at the Newport Music Hall.
Proximity Grey, a Columbus five-piece, opened with the strong vocals of lead singer Adam Nation. The band started playing about a year ago in the residence halls and in the backroom of a comic book store.
Throughout their performance, the crowd’s positive response kept the band’s energy up with every song played. The band, whose sound closely resembles that of Our Lady Peace, played songs that every college student can relate to – for example, their song “Nothing for Nobody,” which discusses the topic of going home alone after a night at the bars.
Toward the end of their performance, the band played a song titled “Anymore.” This song has launched them among the top 10 unsigned bands, and has gotten the band featured on Alternative Addiction, an independently owned and operated online radio station, according to the band’s Web site.
Second out was Empathy. The four-member band used a variety of instruments, including a keyboard and bongo, along with the standard drum, bass and guitar.
Highlighting Empathy’s set were the songs “Promises,” about someone who messed up everything in their life, “Don’t Want You Back,” and “Here We Go” – the first track off the new album. They closed the show in a crowd-wide hand clap after playing “My Atmosphere.”
Red Wanting Blue kicked off its performance in an unusual way with a five-minute clip from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” The band entered during the chaos of Wonka’s boat ride through the tunnel, and lead singer Scott Terry sang along with Wonka while sporting a matching hat.
The backdrop changed with each song, and included two clips from “The Graduate.” Along with the film clips, Red Wanting Blue kept up a near constant barrage of strobe and flashing colored lights that made for an entertaining performance. Terry turned on bright lights at the side of the stage – which he called his “Bon Jovi lights” – and got the crowd fired up.
Terry’s energy on stage, with his dancing, hopping and running, kept the crowd entertained and energized. His version of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” brought smiles to faces and many of the fans sang along.
The band ended its performance with the song “Wake Up Dreamer” off their self-titled album, which left the crowd cheering and holding lighters in the air. The band came out a couple minutes later for an encore performance of “Venus 55,” their most popular song, also on their self-titled album.
Undergraduate Student Government presidential candidate Aftab Pureval was on hand for the show, and helped promote the performance. Pureval said that he was approached by the band and its management to help bring a more diverse crowd to the show.
