The snow had only just begun to fall and as I walked to the Echosmith First Ave show from my car I wondered whether parents would make the trek to to this show for their kids and if the rest of the fans would risk it while the winter storm built up. I picked up my photo pass, got stamped, and made my way in where things didn’t look too promising. A half hour later and after the plows made a few laps around 7th St though the floor had filled for the evenings show. Hilariously I actually asked myself before seeing Echosmith’s show listed “do I know their music even?”. If you feel that way let me enlighten with just a couple of their songs; Cool Kids, Over My Head, Bright, Come Together, and Future Me. All of those songs have no less than 5 million hits on Spotify. I know that some of that is from the ads they have been signed on for getting attention and the like, but holy crap how do they not have more of a following.
This will be a little unconventional but because of the shortened opener sets, compared to the norm I would say, I’ll cover them in one swoop and get to the main act. Jena Rose and The Score are the opening acts for the Inside A Dream tour. Jena is a 16 year old singer, songwriter, and pianist from Dallas Texas. In 2017 she toured with Why Dont We, AJR, and Plain White Ts. Not too shabby for an up and comer! As comparison she reminds me greatly of Molly Kate Kestner and her sound often times.
The Score on the other hand is perhaps one of the most sing along oriented bands I have come across. Upon some digging I came to realize why I was so confused on why I hadn’t heard of them before with their catchy tunes, they released their first full album in 2017. Upon FURTHER digging I realized, no I have heard these guys. They are the band behind the popular track Oh My Love. If you don’t know it go watch it HERE. I can’t tell the future but these guys should have a good ride ahead of them if they keep up the feel good pop sing along vibe.
Echosmith hit the stage and the light show began. I lead in with the light show because as a photographer the first thing many of us do when entering a concert is look for lights, sight lines, and stage setup. Echosmith I was happy to see brought their own light setup and it was a gift from the gods come photo time. More important though why you readers are here, the music. There was plenty to go around this show. I’ve always been the biggest fan of their song Future Me and was curious how it would translate to the live concert. Cool Kids and other songs many of us know on the radio I assumed have been tuned and tweaked to shift from a studio. Thankfully Future Me, and other songs of the show, were fantastic. It was actually one of their song choices to bring the crowd in and split the audience in two with each side doing a sing along of “right now!” when the chorus came along.
For a night filled with all ages, a terrible storm, and admittedly a lot of unknown artists because I suffered some temporary amnesia it was a fun concert to say the least. Echosmith has a solid stage presence and chemistry, not shocking since the 3 lead members are siblings. Furthermore the music is fun to sing along to, whether the band directed them to or not the fans this night were ALL for joining in. And as always I have to tip my hat when able. Despite some time in the start there was little phone above the head going on through the show and people were genuinely enjoying it. I suppose you can expect some dedication like that when they just brave the snow as they did.
Summary. Know them. Hear them. See them. I wish there had been a larger crowd and particularly even an outdoor venue for this show because it has all the makings of a fun summer band shell show. But for families, adults, kids this is definitely a show “the whole family would enjoy” and a group I will be glad to catch when they return.
