X ambassadors brought their “Townie Tour” to Basement East with an electrifying yet emotional performance. New West and Rowan Drake supported them. Due to bus issues, Rowan Drake’s performance was cut. But New West was able to perform a smaller set at the beginning of the night. The crowd was intrigued by New West’s more acoustic style and enjoyed it thoroughly. New West brought out Rowan Drake for their last song so the crowd could enjoy one of his most popular songs and his ethereal vocals. After New West’s shortened set, it was time for X Ambassadors to go on stage.
Even before they arrived you could feel the anticipation in the air. X Ambassadors started their night with their most well-known song “Renegades”. Lead singer Sam Nelson Harris came out with an acoustic guitar and high energy for this song. Throughout the entire song, you could hear the crowd singing along to every word. They then continued with their song “No Strings” from their most recent album “Townie”. After that Sam introduced them and started to talk about their most recent album, and how the songs reflect how they grew up and what they did in such a small town. Sam explained that throughout the show they would be playing old favorites as well as well as some of their newer stuff. The whole night was a collection of songs that showcased their unique mix style of genres and themes.
They continued with the song “BOOM” from their album “Orion” and you could feel the energy not only from Sam, but the crowd as well. They then continued with “Home”, a softer song they created for the soundtrack for “Bright” a Netflix movie. Throughout the night they would mix their ballads in after a harder rock song. After continuing with a few fan-favorite songs, Sam let the rest of the band have a break and did two acoustic songs just him and a guitar. He played “Litost” which Sam explained was one of the very first songs that they ever put out. He continued his acoustic section with their song “Ahead of Myself”. The rest of the band then joined him for the rest of their electrifying set. They ended the night with two songs, the first being the fan-favorite power ballad “Unsteady” and finally ending the night with the rock anthem “Jungle”.Overall the show was something that all X Ambassadors avid fans and occasional listeners would have enjoyed.
- Becca Pollak
Photos Courtesy of Becca Pollak (For Bell Music Magazine)
