It was another unfortunately cold, snowy day in Akron, OH when Lydia’s “Illuminate” Tour rolled through March 14, 2014. The tour package included Golden Sun, Hrvrd, and of course, Lydia.

Photos by Samantha Skapin

The show opened with Golden Sun, a band from Salt Lake City that seemed to spark a lot of fans interest. With their catchy riffs and vocals I found similar to John O’ Callaghan from the Maine, they got the crowd dancing in no time. Their EP “Golden Sun” has a variety of vibes as you listen start to finish, so whether it’s a guitar riff from “Wind River” or a catchy lyric from “Kings Cup”, you’re sure to like it. The band played a majority of this EP and they did it absolute justice. Looking around you could tell these guys got the crowd pumped for the upcoming bands. If you haven’t listen to their EP “Golden Sun”, you’re missing out, because this is definitely a band to watch in 2014.

Next up was a band from Charlotte, NC I find to always be incredibly entertaining and wonderful to watch live. Hrvrd is a band I’ve been hooked on ever since I heard those first few hits on the drums on “On With the Disease” 5 years ago when “The Inevitable and I” was released. With hard-hitting lyrics, incredibly catchy, well – delivered guitar riffs, and mixes of sounds like the trumpet, Hrvrd is a band that’s hard NOT to like. I had seen Hrvrd put on a great show back in June when they toured with Say Anything when their new album “From The Bird’s Cage” was first released, and coming to the Musica I was incredibly excited. You know when you can tell if a band really feels passionate about the music they are playing? Well Hrvrd is a prime example of this. Jesse Clasen danced around the stage as well as using his infamous wide eyes and “spirit fingers” during “French Girls” to capture the crowd’s attention and curiosity, and at one point even jumped out into the crowd with his trumpet. The guitarist jumped around shouting the lyrics and throwing his guitar into his amp, proving how crazy they can be live. Hrvrd has come so far since their incredible debut album, and if you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing both  “The Inevitable and I” and “From The Bird’s Cage” I strongly advise you check them out and see Jason’s spirit fingers live. 

 Next to play was the band everyone was waiting for, Lydia. I heard a lot of chatter in the crowd about how excited they were to hear Lydia’s album “Illuminate” in full, and I was pretty excited to as well. I had never gotten the chance to see Lydia yet, so being able to hear them play an album that shaped a lot of my music taste today was pretty special. Leighton Antelman stepped out on stage with his guitar with a huge smile that melted hearts of fans and began to play the first song off of “Illuminate” “This is Twice Now”.  Fans instantly began to cheer and sing along. Playing the album from start to finish was a treat because fans knew and sang along to every song, making it an incredibly intimate performance. You could tell Leighton was very thankful for playing that night, as he would thank the fans after almost each song for singing along and coming out for the show. After playing the album in full, including favorites such as “Hospital” and “All I See”, Lydia played some more recent songs for their encore. Some of these songs included “Knee Deep” and “The Exit” off of their latest album “Devil”. Overall, Lydia was incredible to watch, especially when playing their infamous album “Illuminate”. If you get the chance to catch this tour or any tour with Lydia, definitely take it.