“I appreciate you committing to this weight loss plan with me tonight!” -- Ryan Tedder
The hot and humid night in Kansas City left the door open for jokes about sweating off pounds by just standing in place, as pop band OneRepublic played the outdoor confines of a full Starlight Theater on their Never Ending Summer Tour.
The evening began with a well-received half-hour set from rising nineteen-year-old NYC singer-songwriter Brynn Cartelli, who people might recognize as the Season 14 winner of TV’s The Voice. She won a recording contract and new vehicle and released her debut EP, Based on a True Story last year, playing its singles, “Long Way Home” and “If I Could” to begin her set.
She mentioned a fascination with astrology which led into recent single, “Gemini” and mentioned how elated she was that her newest release, “Girl Code” had just dropped, a song inspired by recent dating adventures in which she and a friend had pined over the same guy. Although not listed on the venue website, Kansas City fans were obviously aware of her appearance and responded very enthusiastically, so hope for a full-length soon.
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South Carolina Country Christian rockers Needtobreathe (stylized in all caps) would follow with a passionate hour of music, in support of eighth studio album, last year’s Into the Mystery. We’ve seen the band numerous times over the last decade, most recently as part of 2017’s Basilica Block Party in Minneapolis and have always come away impressed with their passion and energy.
The live experience is slightly different with its more religious audiences, as fans’ hands are often up in the air for songs, while the secular crowds just appreciate their infectious blend of rock.
This was our first tour seeing them after Rinehart’s brother Bo departed the band in 2020, but his familiar permanent replacement is Minneapolis guitarist Tyler Burkhum, who’s played with the band, Audio Adrenaline, and Leagues, among many others.
Things started ideally with 2016’s “Great Night” and singer Bear Rinehart singing an urge to the audience to “have a great night on the dance floor.” After the pounding “Feet, Don’t Fail Me Now”, Rinehart mentioned this was the first time they’d opened for anyone in ten years, referring to their tour with Taylor Swift.
2020’s “Banks” was written by both Rineharts as an ode to their spouses, “Money & Fame” extended into a jam, and the studio version of the new “I Wanna Remember” features Carrie Underwood. Rinehart wrote 2007’s “Washed by the Water” for his parents, 2021’s “Sunshine assures us “we’re gonna be alright” as we all emerge from the pandemic, and the spiritual and anthemic “Brother” had fans clapping and singing along.
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Love them or not, you can’t deny the hit making of Colorado band OneRepublic and its leader, singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder’s ability to consistently write a popular and memorable song, and that was especially on display during the group’s hundred-minute headlining performance.
Opening with 2016’s “Kids”, the song went Top 20 in the US and was used in an Xmas car commercial, and the next song, 2009’s “Good Life” topped the Billboard Adult Top 40 charts.
Tedder broke into “Kansas City” a few times, from the 1940’s musical Oklahoma! mentioning he grew up in Tulsa, and that once a year as a child, they made a special memorable trip to the "big city" of KC. “Relative temperature is 96! We’re all going to lose weight together; this is the Concert Diet!” Tedder joked.
Tedder (rightly) believes it’s not the first successful song that is a musical benchmark, but the second one, as the follow-up often secures a career, he said as an intro to 2007’s “Stop and Stare”. Songs were made more lush and fuller sounding with the addition of a mini string section of cello and violin as well.
Tedder took the middle section of the set to showcase his songwriting skills and play parts of successful songs he wrote for other artists, mentioning he thought it would be awkward to do so before, but after some thought during the pandemic, decided he didn’t care and wanted to do so live.
Beginning with Beyonce’s “Halo” and running through seven more certified pop hits ending with The Jonas Brothers comeback smash, “Sucker”, it was like listening to Total Request Live on the radio as these were songs so popular, it was impossible to avoid them on the dial.
The setlist may then have returned to band songs, but the hits kept coming as 2012’s “Feel Again” went Top 10 on the Billboard Adult charts. As a celebrity cameo of sorts, Tom Cruise was shown on the video screens, introducing current smash, “I Ain’t Worried” as clips from the billion-dollar grossing sequel played in the background.
Perhaps the band’s biggest hit, “Apologize” was preceded by a spanning instrumental and then interrupted as Tedder stopped the song, to deconstruct the chorus and try to get the audience to form an interactive collective four-part scale, and the main set would end with the inspiring “I Lived” and Tedder emphasizing the band’s support of the International Justice Mission (IJM) and their quest to end modern slavery and human trafficking.
For the encore, Tedder surprised everyone by appearing near the back of the venue by the soundboard to stand and sing “Counting Stars” before racing back on stage to finish the evening with the throbbing electronic collab song done with Alesso, “f I Lose Myself”.
In the end, the Never Ending Summer Tour lived up to its name, with heat and humidity remaining high into the evening, and fans turning things up further for the hits of OneRepublic, the soul and inspiration of Needtobreathe, and the freshness and talent yet to fully blossom of Brynn Cartelli.
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