Adam Young and crew are in the midst of the Midsummer Station World tour, in honor of his third major release of the same name. The group played a packed show in the legendary Newport (why wasn’t this at the LC Pavilion? not complaining, though). Owl City wowed the crowd with an hour and a half of jams, all of it spot on and predictably chock full of cuts from the new record. The show kicked off with Adam singing alone to a backing track for the first 20 seconds or so of “Dreams and Disasters”, followed by a medley of “Cave In” and “The Tip of the Iceberg” from Ocean Eyes. He didn’t talk much with the audience – chalk it up to Adam Young’s shy-boy persona which he plays off of without seeming pretentious. Plenty of cuts from All Things Bright and Beautiful made it into the show – most notably “The Real World”, “Deer in the Headlights” (“one for the shy guys and pretty girls”, he said) and the angst-y “Kamikaze.” Other cuts from the new album that made it in included “Metropolis”, “Speed of Love”, “I’m Coming After You” and the ballad “Silhouette.” Now, Owl City is supposed to be cheesy but the siren sound-effects in the “Woo-woo-woo, I’m coming after you!” in the song of the same name was a bit much for even me. Adam redeemed himself with the unexpected remixed-version of “Hello Seattle”, a new tune, and an instrumental composition (from his Port Blue side project maybe?). The band performed “Good Time” and “Gold” in the encore, with the lovely Breanne Duren on keys taking Carly Rae Jepsen’s vocal parts in the former. “Gold”, despite not being a single yet, was a great way to end the show and it gave me a new appreciation for the song. Adam Young’s Christian faith shone in a subtle way, through his humility and the performance of “Meteor Shower”, in which the lyrics speak for themselves. Really, the only bad thing about the set was the lack of a live violin and cello player which have accompanied him on previous tours.

Canada’s Action Item opened the show with a half-hour of generic sounding pop-rock tunes. It kind of seemed like they were trying too hard, though plainly they were thrilled to be given the opportunity to open for a platinum act like Owl City. I didn’t enjoy them, although a friend and producer I respect did so they must be doing something right. One thing though I should say to the guys – do NOT sign autographs in the center of the pathway leading to the small doorway EVERYONE is trying to exit through post-show. You’re gonna have a bad time.

Conversely, when Owl City comes to town, you’re gonna have a good time.