Mat Kearney sold out the Best Buy Theater this past Tuesday March 24th, with his Just Kids Tour in support of his latest album and featured special opening bands Parachute and Judah & The Lion. The eclectic mix of genres made for a great night for Kearney’s die hard fans.
The first band up was Judah & The Lion, an Americana-folk band hailing from Nashville, Tenessee and consisting of members Judah Akers, Brian Macdonald and Nate Zuercher. Although each member comes from different parts of the country (Judah being the only Tennessee native) and all had different music influences, it all managed to work together. While Judah brings the soft soul power with his vocals, Zuercher brings in a rugged rock n’ roll feel and McDonald the mixed sounds of soft rock and pop. The country southern feel of Judah & The Lion was refreshing to say the least, and being a place like NYC makes it hard to reach that culture and music. Fans acknowledged the lack of country music that hits the city and were engaged with the band for the entire show. They were also left impressed by Judah’s soulful voice as well as the unity of the band on stage.
Parachute came out shortly after to screaming fans, especially die hard females of handsome lead singer Will Anderson. The band who’s from Charlottesville, Virginia is made up of Will Anderson (vocals), Johnny Stubblefield (drums), Kit French (keyboards), and Alex Hargrave (bass). Parachute has been idolized since their popular hit “She Is Love”, which is a soft pop-ballad with romantic lyrics which spoke to populations of young girls across the entire country. Parachute has had a very successful career, touring the country with some of pop’s biggest artists as well as having successful album releases. The crowd was ecstatic to see the guys rock out and to see what is now a more mature image of the band. Over the years, the band has had what has been a “heartthrob” status, and while still maintaining it, the band can now also appeal to older audiences and even males. Fans were especially smitten with Parachute’s jazzy take on their most popular hit “She is Love.” No doubt the band will continue to strive in the genre with their ability to keep their sound fresh.
The headliner of the night, Mat Kearney came out on stage and started his set with “Heartbreak Dreamer”, the first track off of his latest release Just Kids. It was amazing to see the huge following the artist has, both male and female, and both young and adults. Kearney has received widespread recognition since his first album release, Nothing Left to Lose (2006), which spawned hit after hit, all of which charted on the Billboard charts and were featured in popular TV shows like Kyle XY, Scrubs and 30 Rock. The album is one of kind for its ability to combine elements of hip hop, rock and pop music to make one of the best albums to be released in the last 10 years. The Oregon native has been charting on the Billboard charts ever since his first album release and now with his album Just Kids proves Mat Kearney is still original and can craft creative music that appeals to the masses.
His set also included songs like “Nothing Left to Lose”, “Where We Gonna Go?”, “Undeniable” and “Just Kids.” The night was an unforgettable one and a show to remind music lovers that mainstream can still be as original as every other music currently underground.
Judah & The Lion:
Paracute:
Mat Kearney: 
