Owl City, the musical brain child of Adam Young is a tribute to the power of the internet. From uploading tracks recorded in his parent’s basement late at night when he was suffering from insomnia on his Myspace page in 2007, to scoring a #1 single on both the Billboard 100 and UK charts, his uber catchy songs have led to a viral success which most musicians only dream of. The first time I came across his Myspace page, sometime in 2008, the only live photos of him seemed to be at small parties with teenagers. Tonight, it’s a different story. The O2 Academy in Oxford is packed with a variety of people, ages ranging from 12 to 50, all excitedly awaiting the night’s music. Due to a variety of inconveniences, from traffic to ticket issues, I show up just before the support act, Lights hits the stage, and battle my way to the front, which I can assure you is no easy task!

Canadian native Lights is the perfect opener to Owl City. Unlike some concerts where support acts’ genres clash horrendously with the headliners, her fun synthpop music really gets the crowd going and is a brilliant lead up. She is pretty and charismatic, rocking a keytar while smiling excitedly and talking about her first UK radio interview earlier in the day. The crowd seem to love her, some members calling out things like ‘Don’t go home!’ ‘You can stay at my house!’ ‘You can stay in my bed!’ to which she laughs bashfully. The mood is happy and buzzing, and when she asks who’s looking forward to Owl City the cheer is deafening. Her set is relatively short, but her music is uplifting and her voice sounds great. You can tell she is really enjoying herself, and her enthusiasm bounces through the audience.

After Lights leaves the stage, the crowd gets denser as people surge forward. A few flushed young girls are lifted over the barrier and taken backstage, clearly unused to the stifling heat and closely packed people. Before long someone comes out on stage to take a photo of the crowd, and within seconds a hundred pairs of arms are in the air, waving franticly as if trying to attract attention from a plane flying over the desert island they are stranded on.

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Soon enough the lights go up and two girls take the stage, a violinist and a cellist, who later double up as dancers. They begin to play, introducing the entrance of the rest of the band members. When Adam Young makes his appearance, clad in skinny jeans and a black shirt, and not looking particularly sober, the crowd noise reaches a deafening level, and frenzied hands reach hopelessly towards him. He is a quirky performer, incredibly active. His arms are constantly in motion, and he sings and dances around the mic, at one point, rather adorably using the wire as a moustache. He is less interactive with the [...]]]>

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Owl City, the musical brain child of Adam Young is a tribute to the power of the internet. From uploading tracks recorded in his parent’s basement late at night when he was suffering from insomnia on his Myspace page in 2007, to scoring a #1 single on both the Billboard 100 and UK charts, his uber catchy songs have led to a viral success which most musicians only dream of. The first time I came across his Myspace page, sometime in 2008, the only live photos of him seemed to be at small parties with teenagers. Tonight, it’s a different story. The O2 Academy in Oxford is packed with a variety of people, ages ranging from 12 to 50, all excitedly awaiting the night’s music. Due to a variety of inconveniences, from traffic to ticket issues, I show up just before the support act, Lights hits the stage, and battle my way to the front, which I can assure you is no easy task!

Canadian native Lights is the perfect opener to Owl City. Unlike some concerts where support acts’ genres clash horrendously with the headliners, her fun synthpop music really gets the crowd going and is a brilliant lead up. She is pretty and charismatic, rocking a keytar while smiling excitedly and talking about her first UK radio interview earlier in the day. The crowd seem to love her, some members calling out things like ‘Don’t go home!’ ‘You can stay at my house!’ ‘You can stay in my bed!’ to which she laughs bashfully. The mood is happy and buzzing, and when she asks who’s looking forward to Owl City the cheer is deafening. Her set is relatively short, but her music is uplifting and her voice sounds great. You can tell she is really enjoying herself, and her enthusiasm bounces through the audience.

After Lights leaves the stage, the crowd gets denser as people surge forward. A few flushed young girls are lifted over the barrier and taken backstage, clearly unused to the stifling heat and closely packed people. Before long someone comes out on stage to take a photo of the crowd, and within seconds a hundred pairs of arms are in the air, waving franticly as if trying to attract attention from a plane flying over the desert island they are stranded on.

Click to see more!

Soon enough the lights go up and two girls take the stage, a violinist and a cellist, who later double up as dancers. They begin to play, introducing the entrance of the rest of the band members. When Adam Young makes his appearance, clad in skinny jeans and a black shirt, and not looking particularly sober, the crowd noise reaches a deafening level, and frenzied hands reach hopelessly towards him. He is a quirky performer, incredibly active. His arms are constantly in motion, and he sings and dances around the mic, at one point, rather adorably using the wire as a moustache. He is less interactive with the crowd than Lights, but at one point responds to a fangirl scream of ‘I LOVE YOUUU!’ by dedicating the song to them. His hit single, ‘Fireflies’ creates one of the most impressive sing-a-longs I’ve ever witnessed, with what feels like the entire venue joining in. Other musical highlights include ‘The Saltwater Room’, a duet with keyboardist Breanne Düren, ‘The Bird and the Worm’ and ‘On the Wing’. Owl City’s incredibly catchy songs and original lyrics are what he is known for, and they definitely involve the audience who are enraptured. Throughout his performance he switches from synth to guitar seamlessly, and his set flows brilliantly. The cellist and violinist sway around the stage during some of the songs when they are not needed, dancing in sync. He leaves the stage to tremendous cheers and screams from the audience, only to return shortly and play an encore.

The show is definitely a success, with songs really engaging with and exciting the audience. It seems that for Adam Young, the only way is up. His creativity, borne from and nurtured by long sleepless nights and his ability to turn what could easily have spawned depression into positivity and fantastic music is astounding and inspirational.