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After escaping the cold, long, dark line outside Stage AE on a Wednesday night in January that could not quite be warmed up by the excitement of middle school girls, a flood of screaming “Jacob is My Boyfriend” sweatshirts-wearing fans poured into the place where their role model was standing.
While about half the pit was filled, there was a good deal of people, just small ones. Half-an-hour after what was promised on the ticket, the lights went black and many opening acts distracted the crowd until Jacob Sartorius followed.
The crowd cheered and jumped as Hayden Summerall and Annie LeBlanc held hands and gazed into each other’s eyes (much more than a Bible-length apart), carrying not a hint of enthusiasm in their attempts at lip-syncing.
After showing off their love for each other with a side hug, Zach Clayton took the spotlight, quickly transitioning to “Bad Zach.” He sang a few songs about things that the audience members could easily relate to, such as the petals of a flower, but then the atmosphere quickly changed as he sang “Off White,” referring to the color of his skin and “all of his chicks.” In this unexpected song, he threw in a swear word, hence the name “Bad Zach.” After the gasps were heard amongst the crowd, the speakers blared with music from Katy Perry, Macklemore, and Bruno Mars until Jacob arrived.
Running in from the side of the stage, he flashed a smile at the crowd, adjusted his hat, and music from his single, “Skateboard” started to play. Hands with pink fingernails reached towards him, parents yawned in the back of the pit, and Jacob began to put on his show. The extremely flashy multicolored lights created an exciting atmosphere, but Jacob was not a great contributor. He smiled and surely acknowledged the crowd, but he seemed like he definitely could have had a little more enthusiasm.
Despite this, between the girls radiating with excitement, their mothers who were touched by their contagious smiles, the smoke machine, and band, it was a fun and positive atmosphere. The young star played most of his songs on streaming services, excluding his newest single “Cozy.” He was praised for all of his songs, but the ones that really got the crowd roaring included his best-known song, “Sweatshirt,” and romantic songs such as “No Music” and “Chapstick.”
Another song that thrilled the crowd was his cover of “Like Me Better.” It surely sounded different than the original by Lauv, but some could say it’s just because Jacob put a special twist to it. Although the teen did not live up to the amount of energy in his Youtube videos, it was easily appreciated that he did not use pre-recorded tracks. Hearing him sing out loud, live and in person, was quite the experience, according to the bright attitudes of the girls in the crowd, at least.
After a mash-up of “No Music,” Sartorius left the stage for the night after giving little girls one of the most memorable nights of their young lives and giving older teens like avonews reporter Maya Berardi a feeling of regret, for it was hard to write an essay on the floor of a concert, though she tried.
