American Authors, a four-piece alt-rock band from Brooklyn, New York, make their debut headlining tour after the release of their debut album “Oh, What a Life“.
Support came from a local singer/songwriter, Mike Dignam. His acoustic set kept the crowd entertained with easy-listening songs setting a happy vibe within the venue. A great voice, with songs that give off Paolo Nutini vibes.
American Authors consists of Zac Barnett (vocals/guitar), James Shelley (guitar/banjo), Dave Rublin (bass) and Matt Sanchez (drums). As they arrive onstage, the crowd immediately sings along as the band introduces the set with first song “Home“, there is high energy within the audience as they clap along to a building drum solo from Sanchez. The upbeat vibe continues into next song “Heart of Stone” with a guitar solo from Shelley.
The heavy and catchy bassline in “Believer“, which was the debut single from their debut album, has members of the audience up and dancing and does not seem to let up, leading into “Luck“. For “Ghost“, Barnett goes into the enthusiastic crowd and teaches them a echoing chorus of “eh’s”.
He describes the next song “Trouble” as one of the first songs they had written for their debut album, however it went through many styles (reggae, rap, acoustic) before ending into a simple folk song. The audience quietens and sings along with the solo accompaniment of a guitar, before the full band bursts in, along with the addition of a banjo.
Next came the first of two covers of the evening, Coldplay’s “Yellow“, which began with a mandolin introduction. Barnett’s vocals remained strong with the fellow band members adding the American Authors’ vibe to the track.
Barnett introduces a new song called “Nothing Better Than You” which is a fast-paced song with country vibes; although it was new material, this did not stop the audience jumping along and gave them a taste of what would future new songs could be similar to. Shelley then performed a guitar-tapping solo, gaining large screams before the band played “Love“.
All but Barnett leave the stage, before leading into the second cover of the evening, Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me“. Again, Barnett shows his vocal ability with this popular song. The rest of the band rejoin him onstage to provide echoes and harmonising accompaniments.
The crowd us brought up again with the upbeat track “Hit It” before ending with their most anthemic song, “Best Day of my Life“. The banjo intro riff, positive vibes and propulsive rhythms are undeniably catchy as the audience sings along to every lyric with their hands in the air.
For their encore, the band began playing a hauntingly beautiful stripped down/unplugged version of “Keep Me Dreaming“, with Sanchez providing ethereal harmonies, before providing a chilling crescendo and ending the song with repetition of lyrics “I won’t back down, so come right back to me” before a calming banjo riff which links into the final song “Oh, What A Life“, before ending the evening on a high.