Concert Review: Walk Off The Earth (Fillmore Charlotte)

Wow.

I don't really know what to say. I attended my first Walk Off The Earth show ever the other night and I've been putting this review off for a few days, knowing my words would fail to capture the sights, the sounds, the exuberance, the absolute fun of a Walk Off The Earth show.

But let's try.

Walk Off The Earth took over Charlotte's Fillmore on Tuesday night. After a short set by opener Tessa Violet (we've had her "Crush" single in heavy rotation the past few weeks), Walk Off The Earth walked on the stage, pounding drums to excite an already heavily excited crowd.

They then launched into one of their originals, "Red Hands," and the crowd went berserk. This was followed by Mike "Beard Guy" Taylor emerging slightly from the darkness, dressed in black from cap to toe. He engaged the crowd by raising his arms to make them cheer and lowering his arms to make them stop. After a few moments, he stopped and the spotlight shone on the back of the stage, where the other four band members were on top of the risers. They launched into a cover of Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You."

See, this is something I quickly learned about a Walk Off The Earth show. If the focus is on one of the band members, that means the other members are getting ready to launch into something to blow your mind.

Walk Off The Earth peppered their set list with originals like "5th Avenue" and "Fire In My Soul" along with covers of Outkast's "Hey Ya," Adele's "Hello," and Julia Michaels' "Issues." Of course, they performed the song that started it all, their "5 Peeps 1 Guitar" version of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know."

They closed the set with a spirited cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." The band sang the first verse, then exited the stage for the crowd to sing the rest of the song (even the "Galileo Figaro" part) to Beard Guy's inspired piano. The band returned as the guitar kicked in, making the crowd erupt for the 47,934th time that night. Truthfully, the show could've ended there and it would've been a hell of a night.

But it didn't.

After a short break, the band came back out for a three-song encore. They kicked it off with an acoustic version of "Hold On." Only I don't mean acoustic guitar acoustic, I mean everything unplugged with no mics. It was beautiful. They followed it up with a cover of Maroon 5's "Girls Like You" with Sarah Blackwood doing a great job with Cardi B's spitfire delivery. They ended the night with confetti cannons, CO2 cannons, and "R.E.V.O."

I haven't been this blown away by a concert in some time. Walk Off The Earth put on a fun and energetic show. I don't know if folks follow them around on tour like Deadheads, but if they don't, they definitely should. I know we we're ready to hitch our camper to the back of their tour bus.