Escaping the cold October night, the audience made its way into the Englert Theatre. Immediately met with warm, yellow lighting coming from singular bulbs lining the ceiling, more and more people fill the stands. As music is drowned out by incessant chatter, the house lights dim.
As Andy Grammer took the stage, the audience erupted. Little did the audience know, they were not in store for an average concert experience.
“I was a bit worried about how it was going to come off with having seen videos of his concerts,” Wendy Yoder, an event attendee, said following the program. “But I thought this was much more intimate.”
Grammer is known for his upbeat and lighthearted concerts that parallel the overall mood of most of his music. However, this performance was not the same. While he usually tackles themes of optimism in bright theatrical concerts, the tone was different Wednesday night.
These songs were more so tied to the loss of loved ones and grief being used as a tool to bring happiness. Grammer used the loss of his mother as an example for the show, leaving seemingly random objects across the stage that he referred to throughout the concert.
Each item was placed on a pedestal with obvious importance. The items surrounded Grammer in a semi-circle and the stage lights would shine on each item as they were brought up. One such item was a teal rotary phone placed in the middle.
Spontaneously, the phone would belt out a nostalgic ring that left the audience in awe. The lights cut out and a spotlight was put on Grammer. He picked up the phone and centered on the stage beside him.
“Hey Mom. I’m in Iowa City,” Grammer answered. He then went on to have a conversation with his mother posthumously. In an emotional exchange, Grammer caught up with his late mother. Asking her how she was doing and letting her know that he was doing well.
Earlier in the show, Grammer mentioned someone in his community built a “sky phone” in 2010 — a one-way method of conversing with a deceased relative. The concept caught on and has stuck with him since.
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Another item of importance was an accordion box. Situated on the left side of the stage, it was a gift given to him by his late mother because he had always adored it as a kid but was never allowed to play with it. He used it while he played his hit song “Don’t Give Up on Me.”
It offered a beautiful overtone of sound accompanying Grammer’s voice and the guitar, as he asked his mother not to give up on him. This emphasis on grief tugged at the heartstrings of nearly everyone in attendance.
“I was warned. I even brought tissues,” Robin Mangold, an event attendee, said.
Grammer invited the audience to participate as much as possible, making it a focal point of the show. Using notecards, he asked audience members to share their grief in front of the whole theater. Some speakers held back tears as they spoke about their own trauma and how it has shaped them.
Grammer used forms of poetry and speech as segways between each of his songs. Using life experiences to highlight the central motif of resilience.
Audience members echoed the emotional resonance of the show as they filed into the cold Autumn air. As people exited the theater in a murmuring, church-like manner, there was a connective feeling of inspiration.
“It was so intimate that it was just a beautiful experience,” Mangold said after the show.