We the Kings opened to an enthusiastic standing room only crowd Thursday night, part of the Soybean Festival’s annual UTM Student Night hosted by the Student Activities Committee and the City of Martin.
“I’m totally excited for We the Kings,” said Ashton Priest, a UTM freshman.
The Florida native punk-pop band performed its big hit Just Keep Breathing, as well as Secret Valentine, Check Yes Juliet, We’ll Be a Dream, Say You Like Me and other various selections.
Tay Herron, a UTM junior, expressed his appreciation for Secret Valentine, which was about the group’s lead vocalist’ past experiences with a girl he made out with under a Ferris Wheel in 3rd grade.
Many of the assembled students were thoroughly excited to witness the band live.
“They perform so great in person,” said Grace Burkhalter, a UTM student. “You can tell they’re feeding off the energy of the crowd, which is just making them better.”
We the Kings’ Travis Clark (lead vocals), Hunter Thompson (lead guitar), Coley O’Toole (rhythm guitar/keyboard), and Danny Duncan (percussion) took to the stage at 9 p.m. (bass guitar player Charles Trippy was conspicuously absent from the performance, as he is currently in the midst of chemotherapy as a result of brain cancer).
Some students were disappointed upon learning that Trippy would not be making an appearance at the performance.
“I am pretty upset that Charles isn’t here, considering he’s the most popular one in the group, because of his awesome Youtube videos,” Burkhalter said.
The rock band kept the night interesting with their close interactions with the crowd. At one point they invited a few select students to go onto the stage and attempt to do a Country Line Dance. Yvee Garcia, a UTM sophomore, was catapulted over the stage wall by friends and clambered on stage.
“It felt amazing to be on stage. Like, I did not expect it. It was awesome,” Garcia said.
The band members first met in middle school and later began playing together in high school. They are currently signed to S-Curve Records, an independent record label.
We The Kings made it to the top ten on PureVolume’s, an mp3 host site for rising artists. Much of the band’s popularity has come as a result of their frequent use of social media.
The band gained significant Internet fame using sites such as MySpace and PureVolume and their self-titled debut album peaked at 3rd in the U.S. on the Billboard Charts. The band has released four additional albums since their debut album.
The UTM Student Night featured band has almost always been a favorite and We The Kings appears to be no exception.
“It really was a great show,” Burkhalter said. “The band sounded just as they did on YouTube, if not a little better. I’m glad I came out.”
Featured Photo Credit: (Samantha Mobley)
