It pays to see Hayes, student says

Danielle+Bradbery+%28left%29+and+Hunter+Hayes+%28right%29

Danielle Bradbery (left) and Hunter Hayes (right)

By Kasey Stender and Heather Webster

Thursday night, April 17, young country singer Hunter Hayes sung his lungs out in the VBC.  His (never-ending) performance was flawless, as were his eyebrows and cutie booty.

His first opening act, Dan + Shay, were incredibly enthusiastic, running around in the same choreographed maneuvers over and over, stopping to take Instagram pictures with the girls in “the pit.” Their songs may not have been recognizable (to us, as we do not listen to country music religiously, as the other spectators seemed to have previously done), save for the one single, “19 You + Me,” which they did not play until the middle of their set. But the crazy fan girls next to us seemed rabid in fascination, screaming my right ear off in the first ten minutes. Hearing, as it always does when viewing concerts, was dulled within the first thirty minutes of loud speakers and even louder “tweenage” girls.  The band kept the crowd alive with upbeat lyrics and by chucking their water bottles at the heads of their adoring fans. Their music was agreeable; therefore, Dan + Shay are definitely artists to look out for on the charts.

The next opening act was far from impressive, a big disappointment, considering she was performing before the main act. Perhaps Dan + Shay should have switched places with her in the line-up. Season four contestant and winner of “The Voice”, Danielle Bradbery, has a talented voice, but she lacks stage presence.  She did not interact with the crowd at all and when she was not singing, was staring out in space or at her shoes. Her songs all blended together, and the crowd ended up busying themselves with Twitter, Instagram and text messages on their phone (a few of our neighbors were even playing Candy Crush) while waiting for Hunter Hayes to grace the crowd with his voice. She clearly did not look like she wanted to be there, and the crowd clearly did not want her there either. In fact, she walked off the stage before her band was even done with the finishing notes of her last song.  She is young and just starting out, so hopefully she will learn from this tour how to better interact with the crowd, though seeing as this was halfway through Hayes’s tour she should already be showing signs of improvement. Bradbery was merely a set easily erased from my memory as soon as Hunter Hayes walked out on stage, ready to rock Huntsville’s socks off.

He did not disappoint.

The arena went black, smoke covered from the stage front, and Hayes entered with an explosive flare of lights. Hayes was very energetic and interested in the audience. He talked to and praised us for our enthusiasm and warm welcome. He and his band played hits like “Storm Warning” and “Wanted”.  He also included a few numbers from his upcoming album, “Storyline” which releases May 6, and covers of Train and OneRepublic. The stage kept dramatic lighting and strobes, changing colors and shapes to the beat, keeping the crowd— much to the dismay of my poor ears— shouting.

The concert would have been much more enjoyable without the legion of hand-reaching zombies in “the pit” by the stage, or the lunatic fan girls screeching like banshees announcing the coming of death for the entire three and a half hour concert.  Even seated in the upper levels with the scantily-clad, middle-aged women drinking beer in plastic cups and the too-young-to-be-unsupervised girls seated next to their mother like a line of baby ducks, the concert was deafening and made hearing Hayes’s impressive riffs difficult. The zombies looked like they were preventing Hayes from approaching the crowd. I feared they might rip him off-stage and drown him in their sea of flesh— never to be seen or heard from again.

In summary, the concert was enjoyable, and Hayes was a talented performer, playing not only guitar, but also piano and drums. Upon his return, we will gladly revisit the arena (with ear-muffs to protect our sensitive ears), though we may show up later, skipping the openers, depending on who is performing.