By Lisa DiCarlucci
One Republic headlined at Hammerstein Ballroom on Wednesday, Nov. 26 in New York City to a packed crowd. However, they were not necessarily the band to watch at this particular show. The Spill Canvas, the second of three opening bands, put on a lively show which satisfied old fans and most certainly gained new ones.
The first of the opening bands was the Hush Sound, who busted out some sweet melodies with both male and female vocalists and a personal favorite, a keyboard. They have become increasingly popular as of recently and rightly so. The Hush Sound has definite talent and clearly enjoys what they are doing.
After the Hush Sound, came an incredible young talent, the Spill Canvas. What started as a solo acoustic project of the band’s front man, Nick Thomas, has evolved into a foursome that is dedicated to providing emotional and meaningful alternative rock for their fans. Hailing from a small town in South Dakota, the Spill Canvas has a simplicity to it which is a breath of fresh air. “For those of you that are virgins,” said Thomas referring to the band, “We are from a simple place, South Dakota. You’ve probably never even met someone from South Dakota!”
Despite a lighthearted disposition, the band performs with energy and passion that can be felt with every word. The various intonations of Thomas’ vocal performance indicate a clear connection with the lyrics of each song making it obvious that it is his real emotions that he is singing with and about. This band feels every note they play. The Spill Canvas has a charming sincerity to their music.
They are not without a sense of humor, however. An intro to one of their more sensual songs was Thomas propositioning the crowd with, “Maybe we can take this to another level, without taking you out to dinner. Intercourse-that’s all I’m saying.” After some laughs and swooning from the crowd, the set continued with more songs such as “Connect the Dots” and “All over you,” each with more fire than the next.
Almost just as noteworthy as the songs themselves were the things Thomas said in between. He touched on being from New York and what that must mean saying “You guys see a lot of great stuff and a lot of b-s-, but music is the only thing that ever f– matters.” And you can tell they mean it by the way they play. The Spill Canvas is all about the music, and their music is good.
Augustana followed the Spill Canvas with a surprisingly high powered set considering how mellow their recorded music sounds. It was a more than pleasant surprise to see that not only do the members of Augustana have southern charm and accents to boot, but also an aggressive and spirited approach to their live performance. It was a highlight of the night when lead singer, Dan Layus, expressed in his drawl, “Y’all are just so nice!”
As a finale to the Augustana set, they brought out the members of both the Hush Sound and the Spill Canvas who all together did a rousing rendition of the Travelling Wilberry’s “Handle with Care.” It was uplifting and a purely fun musical experience, just as the rest of the show.