With a love worth giving away, Noah Earle and Family and Friends brought their sweet tunes to Columbia’s Rose Music Hall (formerly Mojo’s) on Thursday, February 25th.
Opening for Family and Friends, Missouri native and Mizzou graduate, Noah Earle took his songs of folk rock to the stage. Accompanied by his friend Steven, the two created this style with acoustic guitars and a cajón, a crate drum that is sat upon and played by slapping various sides of the box. During pauses between songs, Earle would change his guitars out as he commented about how he breaks his strings when he plays. This was visible because Earle had a high energy and passion while playing. He seemed to almost get lost in his music, becoming one with it.
His performance of “A Ghost in the Attic” and a song about a land of cake and ice cream was phenomenal, but when Earle started singing in Spanish, he pleasantly shocked the crowd. No one expected this folk rock singer to start fluently singing in Spanish. Radiating friendly vibes, this musician made more comments during the breaks between his songs like, “I don’t use a tuner. I just haven’t figured those things out so you guys suffer the consequences.” Beginning to create the concert hype, Noah Earle left the audience with great music and stage presence.
The moment Family and Friends stepped on stage, the crowd was pumped as they left their seats and gathered around the stage. This six-person, indie-rock band from Georgia sparked something within everyone before they even started singing. It was magically mesmerizing that they were able to do such a thing.
As soon as they started playing, everyone, the band included, started to
dance, which consisted of moderate swaying and head bobbing. Composed
of two vocalists (one playing an acoustic guitar as well), an electric
guitarist, a bassist, and two drummers, this band danced around making
the most of the small stage. Family and Friends switched between fast-
and slow-paced songs, keeping the audience hyped and on their toes. With
upbeat jams like “New Eyes,” “Amadeus” and “Love, And Other Drugs”
rocking out was to be expected.
The band expressed their excitement about being back in Columbia at Rose Music Hall between sets and gave off all around good vibes. They were so casual and comfortable with the audience; the electric guitarist mentioned “I heard you all were skipping exams. No parents, no rules, right?” While this was not only true for most of the audience, it brought forth high energy in the crowd once more. However, they started to slow things down with the performance of their song “Family and Friends.” While it invoked a calmer mood in the room, the hype Family and Friends had established was still present. It all was coming to a close at 11:11pm.
With my eyes shut for a quick second, my wish was for this night to not end here. Luckily for me, this came true as the audience started chanting, “One more song! One more song!” Surprised by this outburst, the band was uncertain what to do. However, they decided that they’d listen to us and performed one more song. With this final song, their voices resonated within my heart.
This band is unlike any I have ever encountered before. While listening to their songs brings a rocking time, it is best to see this band live. It is truly an experience to feel both the vibe of the band and their music firsthand. Like they sang, “These times, they are changing me.” Unique, this six-person band is changing the dynamics of indie-rock a little at a time.
