And Still They Rise
June 18th, 2012Fun. – Terminal 5 – June 16, 2012
When even a venue’s usually stoic, focused-on-their-job security guards remark on a band’s meteoric rise, it’s a pretty good sign of how big a deal that band’s become. Thanks to the chart-topping, record-breaking megahit “We Are Young,” fun. has become as well known as possible these days—and, as this past weekend’s pair of sold-out shows at Terminal 5 proved, this rise has brought on fame and expectations.
Previously, the group has tried all sorts of ways to up the ante when playing live, like wild LED light shows, live electronic vocal effects and even string quartets. But on Saturday night, the members of fun. drew on different experiences from their previous bands to match their now bigger sound. Faced with a newly increasing exposure, the six-piece reworked their live show, making it simpler but wildly energized. They fired off track after track from Some Nights, starting the show with the album’s wonderful opener of the same name. Lead singer Nate Ruess leaped around the stage while belting out his unmistakable falsetto, and he kept up the energy with anthemic songs like “Carry On” and bouncier tracks like “All Alone.”
But what was truly heartening was that the venue wasn’t just filled with “We Are Young” fans. Songs from the band’s equally impressive debut, Aim and Ignite, were met with just as much fanfare, and fun. rewarded the crowd for that by unleashing a blizzard of confetti during “Barlights.” It’s been a long road, collectively and individually, to get this far, but if these two nights at Terminal 5 were any indication, the future path for fun. will be filled with bigger venues to play and more fans to please. —Sean O’Kane
Photos courtesy of Sean O’Kane | seanokanephoto.com
