The Year of AJR
AJR has definitely had a good year. Although many people didn’t know about the band of brothers at the beginning of the year, they’ve gained thousands of fans throughout the year. Starting with their hit single “Bang!” going viral and even Apple using their song in their iPhone 12 commercial, to Disney’s Pixar using “Overture” in the trailer for the new movie “Soul,” they’ve become quite the sensation this year.
The band distinguishes their music for writing about personal experiences that people in their teenage years and twenties can relate to. They’ve written about the innocence we all had when being kids, not feeling ready to grow up, and even graduating from college and not knowing what to do next.
AJR was supposed to go on their Neotheater World Tour – Part 2 tour this year, but for obvious reasons, it was sadly canceled. When they realized that it’s probably going to be another while until we all get in-person concerts again, they decided to put together a Broadway-style show. They called it AJR’s One Spectacular Night, which sold more than 8 Million tickets in the US alone.
Fans who got general admission tickets were able to join the show early and play along for a fun Q&A session about AJR, and watch an interview with the members of the band. People who got VIP tickets were able to join a post-show party and have a Q&A session with AJR themselves.
Having One Spectacular Night Watching AJR!
A few minutes before the show started, AJR was trending on Twitter. The band started the concert by playing an intro with some of their most popular songs. The lightning effects were magnificent and it really made you feel like you were watching a Broadway show. They had an enormous stage and a huge background screen for more visuals. The boys were also accompanied by a full band counting with drums, trumpets, guitars, keyboards, and even a piano. They wanted to give fans the best experience possible.
In “Netflix Trip,” Ryan explained that when they first showed the song to their friends, they started laughing. A minute into the song, they started crying. Then laughing again. He explained how having a song that could make people have tons of different emotions was amazing for them. While they were performing it, we could actually feel like we were on a Netflix trip. Tons of screens surrounded the band. They even played The Office’s intro song at the end, which is the brothers’ favorite show.
Crazy Visual Effects!
In “Turning Out Pt. II” Ryan levitated while playing the piano, and the background screen played visual effects to look like he was flying in space. When the performance finished, Jack took over and said “Not many people know this, but we started our careers street-performing in New York where we were born and raised, so the next song is gonna look like this…” “I’m Not Crazy” started playing and the brothers sat down on a bench that had fake trees behind it and put an open guitar case in front of them like street performers do.
After playing a couple more songs and keep having insanely good visual effects, Jack said “So we noticed recently that people were afraid of getting out of their comfort zones, that’s why we made this show.” He then proceeded to climb up some stairs in the middle of the stage and when he made it to the top, jumped off. Instead of falling to the ground, he lands on a string of light and starts walking on it, right before playing their hit song “Burn the House Down.”
They then showed fans how they make songs, and started building “Bang!” from scratch. After performing the popular song, Jack talked to fans one last time. “This is probably the coolest thing we’ve done in our careers so thank you guys so much for being here with us tonight.” The brothers ended the concert with “Finale” and “100 Bad Days.”
One Spectacular Night Full Setlist
It was an amazing performance and I can’t wait to see it in person one day. Check out the full setlist of AJR’s One Spectacular Night below!
- Intro
- Next up forever
- The entertainment’s here
- Bummerland
- Netflix trip
- Sober up
- Come hang out
- Weak
- Karma
- Break my face
- Medley – Three-thirty, Pitchfork kids, No grass today, Pretender, Call my dad, Growing old on Bleecker Street, I’m ready, Bud like you, Let the games begin, Beats – all in trumpet
- Turning out pt. II
- I’m not crazy
- Don’t throw out my legos
- Birthday party
- My play
- Burn the house down
- Bang!
- Dear winter
- Finale
- 100 bad days
- Overture
