Mix 94.7 Merry Mix Show with X Ambassadors, Walk Off The Earth, and Dean Lewis
Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater, Austin, TX
December 10, 2019
Review by Raven Garza
Photography by Jim Chapin
If you haven’t heard of at least one X Ambassadors song over the past few years, I highly suggest adding them to your holiday playlist. The New York natives joined Mix 94.7’s Merry Mix Show lineup on Tuesday, December 10 at the ACL Live at Moody Theatre— and what a holly, jolly night it was. X Ambassadors played a heartfelt, electric show full of old goodies, current hits, and plenty of songs from their newly-released sophomore album Orion.
Whenever there’s a diverse crowd at a show, you know it’s going to be a special performance. The audience had clearly been anticipating new music from X Ambassadors; their previous album was released back in 2015. From young adolescents sitting with their parents to the groups of college students enjoying a few beers together, to the pair of significantly older gentleman sitting behind me tapping along to the tunes— we all had a unique experience that night.
The first opener, singer-songwriter Dean Lewis, charmed the hell out of the entire audience. Dean, with support from another musician on guitar, joined us all the way from Sydney, Australia and played material like the intimate pop hit “Waves” and the recently popular “Be Alright;” evoking enthusiastic singing from the crowd. They also performed a Killers cover— truly a band after my own heart. “When You Were Young” was slowed down a tad and given a beautifully heartbreaking undertone; the sunny yellow lighting added a perfect balance to the piece.
Canadian indie-pop band Walk Off The Earth then jumped into their set with bangers like “Red Hands” and the heartfelt “Teenage Dirtbag.” They pulled off a fun array of folk-pop tracks and alternative guitar licks that made you feel like you were driving through a lovely mountainscape; wind blowing in your hair and having a laugh with your closest friends. Don’t get me started on their Voltron-esque abilities to not only seamlessly play instruments together, but also add their unique style to mashups of today’s most popular hits. That takes skill— hats off to y’all.
As soon as X Ambassadors walked out onto the stage, the raw excitement from fans could be felt all around the Moody Theater. We had Adam Levin on drums, Casey Harris on keys, and frontman Sam Harris on lead vocals (along with the occasional sax and guitar) along with touring guitarist Russ Flynn and Emily Moore on bass and keys. They began the show with “Hey Child”, a blissful song off the new album that gripped us with its pop-rock charm and had everyone clapping within seconds.
As the band dived into their performance, we were lucky to hear new songs including catchy dance-rock tune “Boom,” the invigorating and soulful “Quicksand,” and the soothing “Rule;” rich with soft keyboard melodies and jazzy sax elements. All the while, Sam didn’t miss a beat in encouraging fans to dance, sing, and let go of their worries (if only for that evening). Towards the end of their set, Sam led the band into a couple of fan-favorites including “Unsteady,” during which the crowd passionately sang along to the chorus and swayed in unison. Believe it or not, the first time they played “Renegade” was here in good ol’ ATX during SXSW 2015, with a whopping 20 person crowd. Once the audience recognized those first few notes, the energy levels soared throughout the entire song.
Brothers Sam and Casey came back out to kick-off X Ambassadors’ two-song encore beginning with the new “I Don’t Know How To Pray,” a deeply personal number complemented with hues of blue and purple light draping the stage, and finishing off the evening with the uplifting “Joyful.”
Well, friends, here’s to being joyful. I’ll leave you with Sam’s warm wishes to the audience that night: “Happy holidays everybody!”
X AMBASSADORS SETLIST: Hey Child, Jungle, Boom, Quicksand, Don’t Stay, Ahead of Myself, Confidence, Rule, Low Life, Home / In Your Arms / American Oxygen, Hold You Down, Shadows, Gorgeous, Unsteady, Renegades ENCORE: I Don’t Know How to Pray, Joyful
WALK OFF THE EARTH SETLIST: Red Hands, I’ll Be There, Teenage Dirtbag, Table Medley, Taekwondo, Home Alone, Mike’s Song, Home, Girls Like You, Fire in My Soul
DEAN LEWIS SETLIST: 7 Minutes, Hold of Me, Waves, When You Were Young, Used to Love, Be Alright
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