Review: Tour De Compadres
November 15, 2016
The night of Tour De Compadres began just the way it should – with our Student Activities staff being notified from the Ticket Office that the show had sold out! Selling out meant a lot to us here at SA, but first and foremost it meant that the night would be at the maximum capacity of not only people, but also excitement.
And exciting it was! From the moment the doors opened to the Vines Center, you could see people scurrying down the aisles, trying to find the closest seat they could to the stage. There were a few “No running!” yells and some people who weren’t the happiest that they didn’t find the closest seats to the stage, but any feeling of negativity was slung into the void as Welshly Arms opened the show. Their alternative rock sound was the perfect way to open the show and pique the interest of anyone who didn’t previously know their music.
The next act to come on stage was Parachute – and yes, there were tears when “She is Love” played. Quick fact: did you know “She is Love” was released in 2009? All those years ago, the song was released when you were a teeny-bopper and it still brings you to tears when Will Anderson softly sings “She is love, and she is all I need”. After an around 30-minute set from Parachute, the way was made for Mat Kearney.
Mat Kearney made his entrance singing hits like “Air I Breathe” and “Nothing Left to Lose”. It was clear that a crowd goes pretty wild for a man in an all-white outfit and a fedora as Kearney stepped off the stage and walked through seats. Fans were screaming and reaching out for him, and this excitement carried all the way through his performance until the end when he sang his hit song “Ships in the Night”.
After Kearney wrapped up, everyone was caught up in anticipation for the headliner of the show: NEEDTOBREATHE. Around 10pm, the band reported to the stage as the crowd’s enthusiasm was at an all-time high. A room full of people screaming NTB’s hit song “Happiness” together is something that one must experience at least once, and for over 6,000 fans, this experience happened on the perfect night.
At the end of the show, all of the artists from the Tour De Compadres were together on stage, singing “Brother” as the crowd was singing along with them. And in this moment, the epitome of the Tour De Compadres was shown – the feeling and definition of community, which we all long for, was found in the finale of the show. This moment and the show as a whole will surely not be forgotten by any fan who attended.