OK Go Drenches House of Blues in Confetti

Casey Hudacko ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

At the House of Blues here in Boston, OK GO put on one of the most technically and visually astonishing shows to ever come to this area.  Before the show, a mesh curtain was dropped in front of the stage and they played a video comprised of clips from famous movies of people saying the words “Okay” and “Go.”  Then, while the curtain was still up the band, from behind the curtain, began playing the first song off their latest album.  The song, titled “Upside Down & Inside Out,” got the entire room energized for the rest of the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exGdTMbyMpI

A few songs later, the band played another song off their new album that featured three cow bells.  “Obsession” features a lot of percussion that and smooth, deep vocals that made this song stand out.  But everyone in the audience had their head bobbing up and down along to the beat.

The crowd went absolutely crazy when they began playing their hit song “This Too Shall Pass.”  Lead singer Damian Kulash told that story of a man at a Boston show that misquoted the lyrics “When the morning comes” to “When the money comes.”  During the song, the entire crowd belted out the lyrics.  The energy was so high during this song as Kulash jumped off stage into the crowd and let the crowd scream the lyrics.  Although the House of Blues is not a small venue, it was such an intimate moment between the band and the audience.

One of the “nerdiest” moments of the show was when the band members abandoned their instruments and gathered front and center of the stage with an iPhone.  They used the iPhone to record clapping and stomping noises from the audience and used these noises to make the beat for their song “There’s a Fire.”  OK GO gets an A+ for audience participation.

The band also covered “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin that also had the crowd very excited. Kulash’s vocals shined in this cover as he showed his fantastic vocal range. The last song before their encore was “Turn Up the Radio” which is a fun, upbeat song that doubles as a heavy head-banger.

As they came back for an encore, the band appeared back on stage in white jumpsuits and without instruments.  Then, their song “White Knuckles” began playing as they performed a wildly entertaining choreographed dance that had everyone in the audience laughing and thoroughly amused.  After that song, they began playing “I Won’t Let You Down,” which was their most recent music video release.  For this, they turned on backlights to reveal that their “white” jumpsuits were painted in neon patterns.  From above, bubbles began falling that were also luminescent.

They closed the concert, unsurprisingly, with their most popular song “Here it Goes Again.” Halfway through the song they started grabbing people from the audience and pulling them onto the stage until about 20 people were up on the stage dancing and singing along with the band members as they closed the show.

If you ever have a chance to see an OK GO concert, please, please, please go. You will be covered in mounds of confetti, you will scream your lungs out along to their music, and be so very entertained by all of the nerdy things that they do.