Thursday evening, people gathered at Public Square Park to hear JOHNNYSWIM, Delta Spirit and Cage The Elephant kick off Live on the Green’s finale weekend.
A calm audience welcomed the husband and wife duo, JOHNNYSWIM. The group led the night with acoustic sound and intimate harmonies. The crowd responded well during Abner Ramirez’s song, “Adelina,” as he sang in Spanish towards the end in dedication to his mother. The group gained even more response during their angsty anthem, “Diamond.” However, the audience remained quiet with little interaction in comparison to the other two bands.
The crowd definitely began to loosen up when Delta Spirit set foot on stage.
The hair-flipping, glow-stick-throwing, indie-rock band quickly got the audience up on its feet with its upbeat song “Tear It Up.” Even during its slower, heartfelt song “Yamaha” the crowd danced and began the never-ending night of crowd surfing. Throughout the set list, Delta Spirit interacted with the audience, building the enthusiasm among the crowd as they sang along.
Despite the high levels of energy during Delta Spirit’s performance, it could not surpass the hype of Cage The Elephant.
“Cage, Cage, Cage,” the crowd chanted.
By the time Cage The Elephant came out, the crowd was shoulder to shoulder, jumping and bouncing off each other in anticipation
The alternative rock band performed songs including “Take it Or Leave It” and “Come A Little Closer.” During “It’s Just Forever,” lead singer Matt Shultz began crowd surfing and eventually stood in the hands of the audience. The charismatic group definitely matched the energy of the crowd as members intensely shouted lyrics. The band ended the night with an encore performance of “Shake Me Down.”
Live on the Green ends this weekend with performances by Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes, Augustana, G. Love & Special Sauce and The Wild Feathers on Friday and performances by Phin, Sugar and the Hi-Lows, Ingrid Michaelson, LP, The Lone Bellow and Jake Bugg on Saturday.
This article was written by Brooklyn Penn.