ORLANDO — Most nights aren’t usually this bright. Most nights aren’t usually this loud. Most nights aren’t usually this interesting. Most nights usually don’t involve Fun..
A name that certainly fits the trio; Nate Ruess – vocals, Jack Antonoff – guitar, and Andrew Dost – multi-instrumentalist, are everything but boring and proved that Thursday night, during their electrifying 90-minute set at the CFE Arena.
On the tail end of their headlining “Most Night Summer Tour”, Fun. showed no hint of fatigue that would give any viewer the impression that they have been touring since early January of last year, following the release of their album.
From the little boy watching the show sitting on his father’s neck — to the college kids pre gaming before they go downtown — to the nice older couple who could not stop dancing in their seats, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
”You wanna be louder than Boca Raton, don’t you?,” screamed frontman Ruess as he waved the microphone stand high in the air. Up for the challenge, the nearly sold-out venue conquered Ruess challenge, leaving him wondering “Boca Raton who”.
Fun.’s pop meets Grease meets rock blend – provides the perfect night for sing-alongs – making it nearly impossible not to be loud. Whether you were right in front of the stage or high up in the stands — the performance involved everyone — involving a cannon full of paper confetti, which rained over the entire stage floor.
While Ruess controls most of the vocal duties, bandmates Antonoff and Dost make sure their work and contribution to the band is not overlooked — in an attempt to “raise the dead” Antonoff showed off his shredding skills as he lead the crowd in “Rock and Roll” getting everyone to scream “Hey”.
A performance for the big stage — besides an overhead projector which displayed the band playing live behind the colorful light show — Fun. focused on winning the crowd over with their performance skills and not special effects, as members of the audience danced with complete strangers to popular song “We Are Young” — nodding their heads from side-to-side in unison during songs “Carry On” and “Baralights”, which Ruess dedicated to the crowd.
From their set opening of a cabaret version of “Some Nights” decked out in matching tuxedos, all the way to their final song Fun. kept their promise of making Thursday night, the best weekday ever. Following their performance — I almost can’t stand how awesome these guys are.
Canadian twin-sister duo Tegan and Sara opened the show, and performed for just under an hour. The duo let it be known early, that no matter how poorly the crowd would respond to them they were going to rock out and have a good time since it was their birthday. The crowd caught on to their 80’s pop music early and seemed interested in everything they had to say — even when they stopped singing and told stories including their run in with a monkey backstage.
By OBK
OBK CHANNEL 