The Met brothers, down one member, deliver entertaining amphitheater confection
AJR, the viral pop band whose name comes from the first initials of the three superstar brothers–Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met–brought their Somewhere in the Sky Tour to Merriweather Post Pavilion on Sunday (Aug 10th). AJR is touring this year without brother Adam, who is focusing on climate change activism.
The group rose to fame through social media, combining their talents and keeping their music production in-house. AJR’s mix of fun, upbeat (even quirky) tunes and emotional songwriting has earned them legions of devoted fans. They have extended their signature creativity to their performances, mixing ingenious staging, illusions, and surprises to enhance the experience of the music. Last year’s arena trek, “The Maybe Man” tour, saw the group bring a very involved production to arenas across the country and proved why they are one of the most important live acts of the 2020s.
Their approach to this amphitheater tour is no different. There were screen-to-life bits, an opening thunderstorm, and a general sense that these outdoor venues are best treated as massive raves.
Their music is marked by catchy melodies with plain language lyrics that emphasize the things young adults go through. “Way Less Sad,” the first song of the night, “No I ain’t happy yet / but I’m way less sad.” There’s the anthem of impostor syndrome, “ Bang!” and the inspirational “100 Bad Days.”
Ryan told the story of creating the latter song, complete with Pro Tools-like visuals on screen. What’s the secret to making a catchy song about Turing negatives into positives? Somewhat fittingly, it’s to simply play it all backwards. (See the show to understand what that means.) It gives a homegrown panache to what can be the cynical and calculated world of pop production.
While Ryan offers the musical backing with his sound-shifting keys, it’s the trapper-hat-wearing Jack who sings lead. His voice is liltingly jovial, as fun to listen to as it is to sing along with.
Ryan sang lead during an acoustic performance of “Inertia,” off their The Maybe Man project. This gave Jack time to get into the middle of the crowd with an acoustic guitar and ‘Garth mic’ for the jumpy “World’s Smallest Violin” and “Wow, I’m not Crazy.”
This show is one where the fans are just as enthusiastic about what happens *between* songs as the songs themselves. That’s the mark of true entertainers. Example: At Merriweather, a gobsmacked fan won Jack’s hat in a contest of arm strength against Ryan. And Ryan didn’t take it easy on her, but the crowd was certainly on their fellow audience member’s side.
I won’t spoil all the surprises, but I haven’t smiled this much from the goings-on at a concert in a very long while. AJR is filling the need for all-around performers to come back to the stage. Their music being homemade gives it an approachability that has seen the AJR fan base grow exponentially over the last 20 years. It’s a winning combination that has taken this group from maybe men to a band we’ll all be saying ‘yes’ to for a very long time.
