Three of pop-rock's current finest bands, OneRepublic, the Script and American Authors, captivated thousands of concertgoers at Riverbend Music Center on a humid, buggy Tuesday night.
American Authors played their big hit "Best Day of My Life," which got the packed house waving their arms in the air. The Script, which hails from Dublin, Ireland, played 45 minutes of songs like the Celtic-influenced "Paint the Town Green" and new song "Superheroes." Lead singer Danny O'Donoghue borrowed a phone from a woman in the front row, called her ex-boyfriend and sang the song "Nothing" into it. After the song ended, he propelled the crowd to scream, "Goodbye a--hole" to the unsuspecting ex.
It was high-energy moments like those that prepared the crowd for Ryan Tedder and Co.'s 90-minute set of old and new hits from all three of OneRepublic's albums. Because Tedder has co-written songs for Adele, Beyoncé and Maroon 5, sometimes it's difficult to discern if he is the one who has influenced them or vice versa. Hidden behind a long, white sheet backdrop, the silhouetted band played the mainly instrumental "Don't Look Down" and then "Light It Up." As they played, the drape lifted to reveal billowing smoke and the band, all dressed in black, pummeling their instruments. Whether you like OneRepublic's somewhat vanilla, anthemic pop songs or not, seeing them in concert changes your perception of them — for the better.
Their set ran the scope of torchy songs like "Secrets," "Preacher" (about Tedder's cool 86-year-old grandpa), "Come Home" (ending on a visual of the Ohio flag) and the soulful "Something I Need" from last year's "Native" album (they played almost every song from it). "It's been a hell of a long time since we've been in town," Tedder told the crowd. (And a lot has changed; seven years ago, they played to only 150 people.)
The show wasn't all about lead singer Tedder, though. Guitarist Zach Filkins had his literal minute in the spotlight when he adeptly played Spanish guitar for a couple of minutes, which segued into one of the band's biggest hits to date, the intense "Counting Stars."
OneRepublic's well-worn hits were as well-received as the rest of their songs, especially the beautiful "Apologize," the band's first hit from their 2007 debut, "Dreaming Out Loud." A sample of Moby's "Run On" started the song, then Tedder, stationed at a piano, played and sang the song in falsetto while cellist Brent Kutzle played beside him. The crowd sang along but sang even louder when he covered the chorus of Sam Smith's "Stay with Me" before finishing "Apologize."
Tedder prefaced "Good Life" — which was ubiquitous in Disney World TV promos — as a song that got a lot more attention than he ever thought it would. Throughout the tune, the band intercut it with M83's synth hook from "Midnight City," generating an electrifying combination of just-OK pop with excellent electronic.
No one would classify OneRepublic as EDM, but on the last song of the night, "If I Lose Myself," they headed into that direction, with black-lit thumping tom-tom drums, Tedder smacking piano keys and confetti showering the dancing crowd. Tedder ended the show by thanking the "insanely cool people from Ohio" and promising to return with a new album.