Fun. concert promises upbeat adventure

By Cathy Hu     9/23/13 7:00pm

Boundless energy. Synthesized melodies. Brassy riffs. Raucous beats. Shifting styles. Theatrical delivery. By any logical musical algorithm, the combination of all these factors should prove to be entirely too much. However, it is exactly this bold, adventurous grandiosity that characterizes both the musical and performance style of the Grammy Award-winning Fun. and makes the band so endearing.

The New York City trio occupies the expanding limbo between the realms of mainstream pop and indie rock music. The catchy melodies and youthful lyrics resonate with a wide audience. Top-40 radio listeners can tout their knowledge of this hip indie band while singing unapologetically along with its power pop anthem "We

Are Young."

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Just when it seems as though the band's raw emotional and musical energy is at its height, Fun. proves even more powerful, more impressive and more glorious live.

Lead singer and quintessential frontman Nate Ruess has a stage presence that cuts through the distance between the stage and audience, reaching straight for the heart. Although each song is jam-packed with strings, horns, synthesizer, guitar, backup vocals and drums, Ruess' trademark voice pushes through and floats on top of the ornate layers of sound. Ruess sings with amazing range and control, yet explodes with a naked emotion and powerful honesty. The members of the band, including guitarist Jack Antonoff and keyboardist Andrew Dost mesh seamlessly onstage, building off each other's obvious passion for music and performance.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion is the ideal location for such a sensory adventure. Although it is located in the Woodlands, a 40-minute drive from Rice, no other Houston concert venue could appropriately hold the spirit of Fun. Surrounded by forests - visitors will likely have to walk through several short nature trails to get to the actual concert location - the Pavilion is an outdoor amphitheater at which the uncontained musical energy pours out deep into the night, far beyond the stage, the pit, the seating and the lawn. The driving time should be embraced, not seen as a deterrent - after all, 40 minutes in the car on the way to the concert is just about enough time to listen to Fun.'s 2012 album Some Nights one last time before experiencing the band live.

As for the setlist, expect to hear everything from the widely recognized crossover success "We Are Young" to a smattering of other tracks from Some Nights like the stylized, synthesized "Stars," punk-pop reminiscent "It Gets Better," Fun.'s newest hit single "Carry On," and some of the band's oldest works like "Walking the Dog" and "All the Pretty Girls."

Bright lights, perpetual motion and a dialectic of contagious energy between the band and the audience will make this concert nothing less than, well, fun.

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