You know how it goes: A rock star casually tosses their guitar pick into a crowd, creating a treasured memento for a lucky, crazed fan. Owl City fans won't get guitar picks, though. They'll have to settle for toothbrushes.
I've been to the dentist a thousand times, so I know the drill, sings Owl City frontman Adam Young, miming brushing his choppers before he lobs his toothbrush into the shrieking crowd. Adam Young's toothbrush isn't just a weird stage prop - it's an indicator of Owl City's squeaky-clean aesthetic and live show.
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In case you've been living in an FM-free universe, Owl City is the creator of "Fireflies," the infectious synthpop ditty that has saturated radio stations for the last six months. Once a twenty-something insomniac living in his mom's basement in southern Minnesota, Owl City's founder and frontman Adam Young became a MySpace phenomenon in 2007, sealing a record deal with his meticulously crafted electro-pop tracks.
Despite his rabid popularity with preteen kiddos across the nation, Owl City's fizzy hits have encountered some rough press. This is due to the fact that his songs are bewilderingly similar to those of Ben Gibbard's project of the early aughts, the Postal Service. But gossip aside: his hit, "Fireflies," with the lyrics, I'd get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs? Apart from the fact that it's sickeningly-sweet, mom-friendly radio pop, it's extremely catchy.
And after taking the stage during Passion Pit's cancellation at the Beaumont's backyard last fall, Owl City captured the fancy of enough Kansas City fans to sell out a headlining show in a surprisingly short amount of time. This intrigued me. Perhaps there is more to this Young kid than meets my skeptical ear, I thought.
Let me admit this now: Owl City was not what I expected.
Thursday night at the Beaumont Club, Owl City played an unarguably tight, well-executed set. Opening with an ethereal cello and violin duet, Adam Young and his backing band churned out a set of soaring waltzes and electro-ballads laden with sparkling synth beats and genuine emotion.
But while Young's disarming charm and stuttering stage banter may melt the hearts of tweens across the nation, the fact still stands: Adam Young is a master of mimicry. He looks like Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, sings like Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service, and he writes songs like Andrew McMahon of Jack's Mannequin and Something Corporate.
With the surprising ease of a seasoned band (or perhaps a band whose predecessors paved the way?), Owl City glided seamlessly through songs like "The Technicolor Phase," "Hello Seattle" and "Vanilla Twilight" - an apt description Owl City's sound, conveniently encapsulated in his song title. Modern minimalist electronic bass and stirring string arrangements filled the stark electronic space between Youngs' voice and his synth orchestration. (Seriously: Whoever thought of adding strings to Owl City's live show deserves a raise.)
Even more interesting was Owl City's use of the audience as a back-up chorus. I can't remember the last time I heard a crowd clearly accomplish an entire verse, acapella. (Usually these forced sing-a-longs end in trainwrecks of awkwardness for musicians and fans alike.) It's a rare and mystical happening; but these kids were singing the words like they were bopping along on a monitor below the stage, Disney-style.
Between Young's number-one Billboard hit and thousands of alt-tween fans, Young's dreams aren't just bursting at the seams, as his "Fireflies" lyrics suggest - they're exploding. Flailing his arms and ripping on his electric guitar in a wanna-be-punk-rock circular strum, Young looked like, well, a kid in his southern Minnesota basement, pretending to be a rock star.
It's this earnest charm that Young exudes - in his lyrics and in person - that has won the fickle adoration of thousands of gushing teenagers (and their parents). And despite Owl City's overnight success and high-dollar production, Adam Young's sincere, heartfelt emotions show his true nature: he's still a shy emo kid, enjoying his ten minutes of fame.
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I love going to Adam's concert because it's not ONLY preteens, but I see people of all ages. When I saw him in Boston last month for his new album, I noticed how many grown-ups were there. And no, they weren't just there because their kids were. I saw a lot of adults by themselves and singing along to OC's songs. Unwed Sailor and Mat Kearney also put a certain touch to the concert. They got me excited. There was tons of cheering and everyone was singing along. Really, if Adam were stupid and not talented, he wouldn't be up on that stage and have a song on the radio now would he? His music is dreamy and I'm glad to have discovered him.
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Don't get me wrong, owl city is in no way a defining band of this current generation. Some of the lyrics are so cutesy they almost make me want to throw up. Also, he clearly mimics Ben in his vocals, and the tracks are like watered down version of the whoever the hell is the other member of the Postal Service (from Dntell but can't remember his name). All that being said, owl city is often pretty damn catchy. And, quite frankly, what the hell is wrong with that. It's not overly deep or anything, but listening to owl city is a better way of spending an evening than listening to any number of "deep," "emotional" bands wail away about how pretty girls don't like them and how their fathers spend too much time playing golf at their country club. Not everything needs to be Grand Cru Bordeaux. I'd rather have some Moscato d'Asti almost any day.
This concert was incredible and one of the best i have ever been to! Adam was amazing.
Ha! I'll put it this way: to say Adam Young mimics Gibbard, Oberst and McMahon is not to say that he does it particularly well.
I haven't seen a live show yet, but i like the CD. It's syrupy and corny in places, but I wouldn't write it off as lacking talent. It's more formulaic than the Postal Service, but I think the comparison is completely accurate. It reminds me a little of the Lightning Seeds too. I think he needs to hook up with an opposing point of view when writing the next album though, just to dirty it up enough to avoid future Disney comparisons, but staying in the iTunes top 10 for this long is quite an accomplishment, and it's not just the tweens buying the CDs. I look forward to someday attending a 21 and over Owl City show.
Owl City makes me miss boy bands and times when a clear-cut line between good and evil wasn't so blurry. You're pretty spot on with the comparisons! It's like some old music industry fogies tuned in to the tip of what's hip and cobbled together this dude, so purely designed to make tween girls have inpure thoughts and as a companion piece to Juno at Best Buy. Good review! Although I still say Owl City is evil and if I hear another person cite that "Fireflies" song being "deep" because 'He wrote it late at night when he couldn't sleep' (105.9 The Lazerrr would say that every time they played it (I worked in a place where that station was piped in 24/7, it was soul crushing)).
comparing adam young to ben gibbard, conor oberst, and andrew mcmahon is such an insult to the music industry.
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