April 12th was a dreary, rainy Friday in Indianapolis, but still fans came out to pack the stands of Gainbridge Fieldhouse in anticipation of seeing AJR and Dean Lewis. With nearly 11,000 tickets sold, the stadium was shockingly full of fans ranging from small children to much older parents.
DEAN LEWIS
Australian pop singer-songwriter Dean Lewis opened for AJR, switching between guitar and piano as he sang a variety of songs, including several slower, sadder melodies. One such song was about his sick father titled “How Do I Say Goodbye,” and a quick look around the stadium showed thousands of phone flashlights waving in response.
Lewis also covered two popular songs–Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” and The Goo-Goo Dolls’ “Iris”–both of which were well-known by the crowd and elicited a booming chorus as fans sang along.
Overall, Lewis was a strong showman and seemed to speak very genuinely to the crowd when talking about his father and about breakups. He briefly messed up near the beginning of the song “Half a Man,” but very quickly recovered and continued the song, not letting it phase him. Right before the last song, he grabbed a handful of guitar pics to toss to the people in the front of the crowd. He introduced his band members individually and allowed them each the chance to give rocking solos. He had a great voice and was fun to watch.
AJR
After an hour of excited murmuring from the crowd, AJR finally took the stage. They had a unique opening to the show, with a projector screen and a disembodied voice speaking about the universe and the choice to spend one’s time at this concert. The projections would be utilized throughout the show, showing everything from cool backlighting to actual images that made it look like the band members were riding bikes and going on adventures.
They opened up with the song “Maybe Man” to kick off the Maybe Man Tour, starting with a dozen doubles of lead singer Jack Met singing as they faced away from the crowd, making it impossible to figure out who the real Jack was. The song was accompanied by lots of colorful visuals on the screens behind them, and ended with the real band members appearing at the front of the stage.
They quickly transitioned into “Sober Up,” an older and more popular song of theirs, including a part in which all three band members sang together. After, Jack introduced the other two main members, Adam and Ryan, and told the story of being three brothers in a band together. In an emotionally charged moment, Jack looked out at the crowd and announced, “I feel like we’ve been working our whole lives for this moment.” This was followed by good natured ribbing between him and brother Ryan, setting the tone for the show as light and playful despite the more serious nature of many of the band’s songs.
They admitted that the next song, technically a medley of two of their songs (“Birthday Party” and “I Won’t”), was essentially a cover of a mashup that they’d found on Youtube. This fun one was followed by a slower, sadder song: “The DJ is Crying For Help,” and then a song that was even moreso: “God Is Really Real,” which tells the story of their father’s sickness and reflects on the way that one only believes in things like God or karma when those things are the last resort. Similar to Dean Lewis’ earlier song about his own father, this song drew a hush over the crowd as few people sang along and most just slowly waved their phone flashlights.
AJR played many more of their most popular songs, including “Bang!” (which featured an actual shadow-puppet show from the band members), “Touchy Feely Fool” (space-themed visuals and astronauts on stage), and “Burn the House Down” (with flames licking up the projection).
In between songs, Jack invited a member of the crowd up after spotting his handmade sign demanding a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” which they then played onstage. Jack lost the two-out-of-three matches, and gave the fan his hat as a trophy.
In another moment of fan interaction, the band also took a funky mascot hat from a crowd member to give to Ryan, citing a story in which the band member lost his own hat and explaining that they now take a hat from each tour stop. It was a fun way for them to engage the crowd, and the laughter that erupted from the crowd at the visual of Ryan wearing the hat was delightful.
In addition to their cool visuals, touching songs, endearing sibling banter, and crowd engagement, AJR also did a few more fun things. At one point they actually went high up into the nosebleed section of the stadium to sing two songs, including having people drum on the safety bars ahead of them in place of the song’s actual drumbeat. They also announced their backing band members and gave them time for instrument solos, including fantastic women on the violin and trumpet.
AJR was an amazing experience of a show. Everything from the weird opener to the touching finale in which Jack spoke again about their father and what it has taken for the band to get where they are today… It was all incredible, and created a night of memories for 11,000 fans.