Tara Stanzione | Managing Editor
The bass shook the walls of Rodgers Rec as flashing lights illuminated the dancing crowd at the Spring Concert last Wednesday.
Selling around 400 tickets, this concert had students lined up outside doors an hour before they opened. As We The Kings and MKTO are bands that many students were familiar with, the gym became packed almost instantly.
We The Kings lead singer Travis Clark rocked the crowd, communicating with students throughout the band’s hour onstage. Clark stated that Newport was “hands down the most beautiful place” that he had ever seen and that if he could go to college now, he would go to Salve Regina University.
After noticing all of the red glow sticks Clark jokingly said “I’m a redhead and I feel like that’s a form of support” before telling the audience to throw all of the glow sticks at the band onstage. The crowd went wild when they covered Jimmy Eat World’s song “The Middle” and sang along loudly to the band’s cover of “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz and to their own hit “Just Keep Breathing.”
Kaylyn Bettencourt, Salve Regina freshman, loved being able to be so close to We The Kings. “I think they were really interactive and funny. The crowd got really involved, and everyone was there to have a good time so the atmosphere was really fun,” Bettencourt said.
Their popular “Say You Like Me” was a harmonized version that the crowd loved and their famous “Check Yes Juliet” was greeted with jumping, screaming, and pumping arms.
Cathryn Blair, Salve Regina freshman and CAB Concert Committee member was in charge of guarding the bands dressing rooms and got to meet the members of We The Kings and MKTO.
“They were super nice and funny – willing to spend time with us, take pictures, and sign autographs. At the concert I got to listen to MKTO and I thought they really engaged the crowd! I was having fun and I feel like everyone enjoyed it,” Blair said.
MKTO provided an amazing performance for their many fans here at the university. They performed covers like “Four Five Seconds” by Rihanna and their own “Heartbreak Holiday” where the crowed swayed in tune back and forth. Tony Ollers vocals were mesmerizing and Malcolm Kelley’s rapping didn’t falter for a second.
Towards the end of the night Kelley sprayed water on the crowd before the finale – when they played their hit song “Classic.” The song started with the lights on, melodic vocals, and the audience singing along. After one chorus the lights turned off, red and blue lights flashed throughout the crowd, and everyone began screaming along to the chorus that they knew by heart.
Gina Tonini, sophomore at Salve Regina and future CAB president, said that both of the bands were extremely appreciative of Salve’s efforts to get them here. Tonini explained that every year the CAB Concert Committee works with a booking agent to figure out who is popular and available for the date that they want. From there, the committee decides who they think would be best for the students based on the genre from the student survey results from earlier in the year.
Tonini said that the bands this year “truly love performing and love their fans. They were fantastic bands to work with and I am so glad I had the opportunity to.”
For more information about the bands check out their websites http://www.wethekingsmusic.com/ and http://www.wearemkto.com/
