This Heart is Burning Up

The Cities 97 Basilica Block Party is an event that you don’t want to miss. It’s filled with live music, fair-style food, and inspiration that you can’t get anywhere else. Last year Mat Kearney and Train left me in awe with engaging and beautiful performances. If you have been even semi-browsing my blog, it shouldn’t come as a shock that I’m a music-junky. It’s a rush that I can’t resist.

After seeing the band Walk the Moon was heading back to Minneapolis for the second time this year, I was thrilled to see them again. Just six months earlier I was with some of my best friends at the Fine Line Café listening to a band that I had never heard of before and couldn’t get enough of after that night. Without a shadow of doubt it was the best concert that I had been to—and with music as my drug of choice, I’ve been to more than a concert or two.

The headliners of last nights Basilica Block Party were Kate Earl, The Goo Goo Dolls, and Matchbox Twenty—all performing on the Sun Country Stage. But when Walk the Moon overlapped with The Goo Goo Dolls, there was no question about bailing on the Dolls. We stayed just long enough to hear “Rebel Beat”, which didn’t meet my expectations live (partially because the older crowd around us wasn’t all that into it, and partially because they weren’t the same live unfortunately).

From the time Walk the Moon hit the stage with “Next in Line” to the time they left the packed yard of the Jefferson Stage with “Anna Sun”, the crowd clapped and danced more than any concert I have ever been to. And when the main singer, Nicholas Petricca, told everyone to put all their troubles into a ball in their heart and release all the negative energy, there wasn’t a soul there that didn’t believe that they could lift a car up all by themselves.

The energy and excitement the band exudes electrifies their audiences in a way that most groups can’t achieve. They bring young love to life, singing about exhilarating experiences and the feeling the girl they like gives them every time they see her. Iscariot tells a story of betrayal, with the title being a Biblical reference. As previously mentioned, “I Can Lift a Car” inspires listeners to believe in how strong they are. (In January, I wrote two blog posts inspired by that song.)

Two of the best musical experiences that I have ever had were created because of Walk the Moon. Their crazy dancing and unbelievable energy far surpasses any Top 40 “Hit.” If you haven’t listened to these guys before, I don’t know what you’re waiting for. Seriously, check them out.

If you are a dedicated fan, I know your heart is burning up, too, because these guys are really something else. This year they started ended their tour with Minneapolis, as they set off back to Ohio to write music for the rest of the summer. And I couldn’t be more thrilled that I got to see them for both of those concerts.

They are wild. They are weird. They are Walk the Moon. 

Photo Cred: Lauren