Photo credit: Nick DeFrancisco

Few have the social media driven success story that violinist Lindsey Stirling has. She was told over and over her dream of being a rock star violinist was not marketable, including during a much publicized stint on America’s Got Talent where the judges told her such despite her making it to the semi-finals. Now, she’s selling out 1000+ capacity venues both in the US and abroad. IATU was on hand to witness the buzzworthy performance in Columbus

Friends of Lindsey The Vibrant Sound opened the set with a mix of covers and originals with lots of enthusiasm, but lots of cheese as well. I really struggled to appreciate the performance for what it was, in context with the tour and audience they were trying to cater to. The music snob in me wasn’t really a fan, but objectively the pair are good songwriters and showmen. Someone just needs to get these guys a band! They did well working with what they had though – a trumpet, a guitar, and a Macbook.

Lindsey Stirling played an engaging set that frankly exceeded my expectations regarding the level of production. Opening with “Stars Align” and adorned by silhouette-accentuating spotlights, the crowd was amped up quite quickly. Continuing with “Electric Daisy Violin” the mood only continued. Things slowed down a bit with the Maya Angelou inspired “Song of the Caged Bird” and then an exciting Michael Jackson medley, with had Stirling rocking an arrangement of “Smooth Criminal,” the likes of which I doubt anyone’s heard before. Song wise, other highlights of the main set including Stirling’s favorite “Zi Zi’s Journey,” an adaptation of themes from the Legend of Zelda series (“this goes out to my gamer friends,” she said) and the chill-inducing “Moon Trance.” One of the more interesting portions of the set was a reworked cover of “We Found Love,” which actually had her doing more singing than violin playing. Stirling isn’t a vocal powerhouse by any means, but her voice isn’t bad! What made the performance entertaining beyond the music itself was the stage banter between Lindsey and her two back up musicians, drummer and keyboard/synth connoisseur Drew and Gavi. Lighthearted skits and seriously good choreography made the set good as well. The highlights would be in the encore though – a meticulously arranged “My Immortal” by Evanescence cover and Lindsey’s gone-viral fan favorite, “Crystallized.” The pulse of the electronic element was as prominent as the talent behind Lindsey’s playing and charisma.

Great show. And yep, Lindsey is as attractive in person as you would expect. Very tasteful performance though – props to the choreographer and head(s) of production!