Vance Joy and Jaymes Young stole girls’ hearts one song at a time last night at WOW Hall. WOW Hall was packed with people varying from high school students to couples sharing the romantic experience of Vance Joy.
Starting off the show was artist Jaymes Young. Young played one of his newer songs, “Habits of my Heart,” to open his set. He played with a modest band that consisted of a bass player and a drummer. This small band allowed Young’s voice and all it’s octaves to remain the main focus of his set. He performed for thirty minutes, and within that time everyone experienced chills and disbelief of the raw talent that Young exhibited on stage. While his face did not express many emotions, he graciously received the audience’s screaming especially during his banger “Dark Star.”
Thirty minutes after Young performed, a curly haired, tall, handsome man by the name of Vance Joy took the stage to screaming fans. Joy appeared to look like a fellow Eugeneian with his facial hair, plaid shirt and dessert boots.
He opened his set with a classic romantic song named “Emmylou” from one of his older Ep’s. It was apparent from the moment he started singing that all his emotions poured out through his performance. His voice and facial expression appeared as if he was singing this song directly to the girl he wrote it about. This, of course, made the crowd go wild.
After a few more songs: “Redeye,” “Georgia,” “Winds of Change” and “Wasted Time,” Joy’s Australian accent and kind, modest demeanor were displayed when he discussed how he was inspired for some of his songs. One way was from his Uncle’s post on Facebook.
While encouraging us to sing mid-song Joy momentarily forgot the next line but played it off cool and, within a heartbeat, started singing again. This made him seem even more down to earth and elicited giggles and adoring stares from the crowd.
After chatting a bit more and agreeing to sign a hubcap, Joy swapped guitars (as he did many times that night) and closed with “Riptide.” The crowd immediately threw their hands in the air and belted the well-known lyrics. This made Joy smile especially after the song when someone yelled “curl game on point” in regards to his perfectly messy curls.
Despite turning down the crowd’s request of an encore, it was obvious Joy enjoyed the venue. “It’s a good vibe in here tonight, and I like how it got very quiet for that song I like to perform it when it’s quiet, so it’s really a pleasure to be here,” said Joy after he sang “My Kind of Man.”