Concert Review: Audience leaves The Band Camino performance elated

Courtney Kirby
Sat, 21 Sep 2019 17:06:55 +0000
Arts & Life, Music, News, reviews, 2/14, concert, concert review, fool of myself, live music, maybe, maybe - side a, music, newport, promowest, review, the band camino, this room is white, tour, valley

The Band Camino takes the stage at the Newport Music Hall on Sept. 20 to an eager crowd. Photo credit: Courtney Kirby | For The Lantern

Six months ago, The Band Camino played in Columbus for 200 people. Friday night, it played at Newport Music Hall for a crowd of about 1,600 people. And it was pretty clear to see why it gained such a large following as quickly as they did.

The night opened with Valley, a band originally from Canada. The group played songs from its 2016 debut album “This Room Is White” and music from? new release “Maybe – Side A” that came out Sept. 17.

Although Valley was not the headliner, the audience knew the words to all the songs played, as though a large portion of the crowd was there solely for the opener. For the meet and greet afterwards, there was a line up the stairs waiting before The Band Camino had even finished its set.

Valley got the crowd going right away and did a good job with crowd involvement. Its lead singer moved around the stage, climbing up and over to join the crowd for the last song. The band even had a moment when The Band Camino drummer took over so Valley’s drummer could come to the forefront of the stage for what they called “an early 2000s bop.”

However, the band did have a lot of issues with equipment during the set. The microphones connected to the vocalists cut in and out throughout the set and overall caused some upset. The band did not let it disrupt the show, however, as it continued to bring energy and passion to the stage.

In talking about equipment, it’s important to mention The Band Camino’s lighting. It was clear from the very beginning that the band spent a lot of time matching the timing, colors and movements of the lights, as well as the fog, to its setlist.

The members of The Band Camino also had great crowd participation. During almost every song, they started with something the audience could participate in (other than singing along). You could definitely see how grateful and humbled they were to have the Newport packed with fans and how hard they tried to make the experience special.

The Band Camino also organized its setlist in such a way that most of the more popular and well-known songs were toward the end. Crowd favorites such as “2/14” and “Fool of Myself” came after much anticipation. While most of the crowd still knew the band’s first couple of songs, the energy built up as the night continued and the audience got more into the performance. It left the audience with a great post-concert high as the energy built during the entire two hours.

Overall, it was a great experience. Both bands showed passion for performing and the audience that left attendees feeling inspired.