“In a fog and incense filled auditorium, OneRepublic took the stage to a half filled E.J. Thomas Hall Monday night. The band took the stage shortly after 9 p.m. as the headlining act of the night. The almost hour long set list kept the tempo up playing songs from their 2007 album Dreaming Out Loud.”
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In a fog and incense filled auditorium, OneRepublic took the stage to a half filled E.J. Thomas Hall Monday night.

The band took the stage shortly after 9 p.m. as the headlining act of the night.

The almost hour long set list kept the tempo up playing songs from their 2007 album Dreaming Out Loud.

The group kicked things off with the song Angel of Mercy followed by the popular single Stop and Stare.

The atmosphere was more reminiscent of a coffee shop performance rather than a rock concert.

A simple set consisting of tall floor lamps set by each member of the band and a single vanilla scented candle was placed on lead singer Ryan Tedder’s piano, which eventually led him into jokes about Bath and Body Works and Yankee candle company.

I can’t even walk past there, Tedder joked with the audience. Guys you know what I’m talking about.

He also asked how many in the audience were from the University of Akron, numerous screams responded.

College is fun as hell, he said.

Tedder said he was looking to see what classes he could fail in order to stay for one more year.

In between the jokes, the band played several songs that were welcomed by cheers from the crowd.

In one case they broke out the cello for the song All Fall Down and then later for Apologize which brought on deafening cheers and applause.

At one point lead guitarist Zach Filkins played for the audience while the others took a break, playing a Spanish guitar song, accompanied by the cello and clapping.

They even broke into several covers of songs including a more upbeat and rock version of Crazy by Gnarls Barkley, which went over well with the crowd.

The audience ranged from young professionals and students to middle aged men and women and they all seemed excited to hear the new music.

The band hopes to release a new album in 2009.

Tedder went through the show with clean vocals except for the occasional crack from high notes or the rumbles of the low notes.

The grouped played a two song encore before thanking everyone for attending.

They said they keep coming back to Ohio because it is the state where they played their first show.

Tedder spoke about the crowd after the show.

It was very collegiate he said. Very intelligent.

They said playing at theatres like E.J. were not their favorite but they didn’t mind them.

We don’t like seated venues, he said, because they don’t allow the audience members to get as involved in terms of moving around and getting into the music.

You have to play better for these venues, Tedder said.

The stop in Akron comes towards the end of their tour.

They have three more dates in the United States before heading to South Africa for their last nine shows of 2008.

The best part of the tour is, Seeing the world and the worlds food, Tedder said.

Beth Lynch, Press and Promotions Coordinator for E.J. Thomas Hall said that they plan to do more shows like this in the future. In the past they have collaborated with student organizations to bring musicians to campus.

E.J. was the only one involved in planning this four band concert.

OneRepublic appeared along with The Spill Canvas, the Hush Sound and Augustana.

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” #1.1360669:1625144871.jpg:onerepublicpic1.jpg: OneRepublic lead singer Ryan Tedder performing on stage Monday night at E.J. Thomas Hall:Allison Strouse”