AJR Brings The Fun To Stir Cove!

2 hours ago
3 min read

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

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Tuesday night (9.1.26) Stir Cove was one giant party! Alt-pop heavyweights AJR brought a stellar performance to several thousand fans across many ages.

The sun was still scorching when the 8:00 start time hit but the place was packed with fans ready to get down. The opening act Arden Jones had the crowd bopping with his upbeat dance tunes. I'm not a huge fan of playing to tracks, but Arden was out there solo. Just a guy with a DJ setup, some catchy tunes, and some funky dance moves. The highlight of the set was a spirited cover of "1901" by Phoenix. Arden had a few fans in the crowd. I noticed a group to my left singing a lot of the songs. Don't let me spoil anyone's fun. The pop world is wild. You never know, Arden could be headlining Stir Cove in few years!

After a short setup it was time for the brothers from New York, AJR! The band stepped out to thunderous applause and broke into "Bummerland" from the album of the same name. Following "Bummerland" was one of AJR's earliest hits "Sober Up". The thing I love about AJR is how many bangers they have, that you may have forgotten. As soon as they hit the opening notes of "Sober Up" my brain was transported to the first time I saw them at this very venue, opening for Foster the People. I was like "Oh yea, I know this one!" Such a great way to kick off the show. After "Sober Up" it was banger city. One after another AJR pummeled the crowd with massive hits like "Way Less Sad" and "Bang!". The crowd was going wild, dancing and singing along to every word.

One of the highlights for me was AJR's cover of "Stacy's Mom". Many people think of Fountains of Wayne as a one-hit-wonder, but their lead singer Adam Schleshinger was a pop-music genius. Adam wrote several big hits for other artists and one of the best movie songs of all time "That Thing You Do". Sadly Adam was an early victim of COVID. It was so cool seeing AJR carry on the legacy of Adam through his biggest song.

Throughout the show AJR kept Stir Cove entertained with their creative production. The screen behind the band had giant piano keys that the brothers played "Mario Brothers" music on before jumping into the song "Bang!". They also showed the behind the scenes of how they wrote the song "100 Bad Days" which was really fascinating. In addition to AJR's screen antics, the band played a song in the crowd from the Stir Cove party deck and pulled someone on stage to do a silly challenge for a signed t-shirt!

Throughout the show I kept wondering where brother Andrew was. I noticed he wasn't with the band on stage so I had to look it up when I got home. Apparently Andrew has a PHD in human rights law and is a climate change activist!!?? So cool that he has a double life doing music and law. The info I found said he's taking a step back from touring at this time.

Even with one brother down, AJR gave Stir Cove a show they won't soon forget! The only slight was the crazy Midwest heat, but other than that, this show was soooo fun. If AJR comes through again make sure to get tickets, you'll have a blast!

Thanks so much to Stir Cove for setting up photo access. Thanks for reading and we'll see you at the next one!

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