Photos and commentary by Judy Won

The Royal Concepts, a band that was known by many names and has only been around for roughly 4 years, is an alternative rock, indie band from Stockholm, Sweden. The band is comprised of David Larson, Filip Bekic, Robert Magnus, and Frans Povel. With being a band for such a short period of time, theyre not doing a bad job at getting gigs, opening up for Switchfoot, an alternative rock band who has been around since 1996 and has even won a Grammy and then some. The Royal Concepts had an energetic, yet short performance for the night. They started off with “Radio”, followed by “World on Fire”. Their catchy, upbeat music with a mix of a melodic performance proved to be a calming yet energetic show. As the show came to a close, they ended with their probably most known song “On Our Way” and front man David jumped into the crowd, embracing some very dedicated fans in the front row against the barricade by letting them sing a few riffs of the song. The group of girls were jumping out and down, singing and dancing to every song the entire set.

When TRC came to an end, and Switchfoot’s crew was finalizing their setup on stage, a majority of the fans on the barricade would eagerly stand there cheering, pumping each other up for Switchfoot’s appearance. I had the chance to view some of the taller people in the front row stretching their body to what looks like some pretty uncomfortable lengths to try and take a photo of the set list because they couldn’t bear waiting any longer. As I left my seat next to the other photographers near the stage, I walked toward the center of the pit where these dedicated fans were, and I approached closer to the group, the guy reaching forward pulled back so he would get out of my way. I went up to him and told him to give me his phone, and he looked at me for a second with a blank stare, with a smile slowly emerging with an enthusiastic “Okay” followed by a quick and frantic motion of unlocking his phone. As he handed me his phone, those in the front near him who were a part of the unsuccessful plot from earlier watched me in silence, or what I could honestly refer to as the most enthusiastic silence ever. I quickly snapped a few photos from his phone of their set list, and handed it back to its owner.

As I handed the phone back to its rightful owner, I witnessed something that put a genuine smile on my face, one that usually doesn’t emerge at shows, especially due to the crowd. The phone owner, who seemed to be in his late teens, passed his phone around to the other fans against the barricade, and slowly one by one, their faces lit up like fireworks on the fourth of July. After they realized what songs SF intended on playing that night, they talked amongst each other about their favorite songs, what they were most excited to hear, and so on. The enthusiasm and excitement was flowing throughout everyone in the front row, which was made up of one of the most diverse crowds, age and ethnicity wise, that I’ve seen in a while for a single show. Those who were once strangers at the beginning of this show bonded over their love of this band, and spread their excitement and love like wildfire.

Switchfoot is a San Diego based band comprised of Jon Foreman, Tim Foreman, Chad Butler, Jerome Fontamillas, and Drew Shirley. This year would be Swtichfoot’s 18th year together, and after all of those years of being a band, you would think that they would be tired of putting on the same performance every night, but their performance was definitely a night to remember. They started off their 12 song long set list with “Say It Like You Mean It” followed by “Stars” and “Saltwater Heart”. Throughout the night Jon was very personable with the entire crowd, constantly walking off of the stage to stand on the barricade, holding his fans hands and handing them the microphone to sing along with him. He constantly incorporated his fans with his performance throughout the night. During the middle of their set, Jon left the stage and began walking around the entire venue. He made sure to explore every inch of the venue, singing along with fans along the way, and incorporating the fans on the balcony, leaving no man, woman, or child left behind. While Switchfoot not only had fantastic stage performance, they also had some of the best stage lights I’ve seen at a show in a decent amount of time. Throughout the night I caught myself getting more and more immersed in their performance and their beautiful lights, perfectly synchronizing themselves with every beat of every song. After this show, I’ve definitely realized that Jon Foreman seems like one of the nicest and chillest frontmen out there, and it would’ve been a very awesome experience to have met him and the rest of their band.