Honda has done an excellent job with their 'Civic Tour' this season, combining exciting bands for 2 month stints across the country. I saw the 'Honda Civic Tour' featuring Portugal the Man and Grouplove back in September. This time was two younger bands - American Authors and The Mowgli's. The pair performed last month at Jannus Live in St. Pete.
I first heard of the Mowgli's from their excellent Lolla Aftershow back in 2013. They're a band that not only has catchy songs, but gives off a feel-good happy vibe. They constantly stress that the audience should go out and do whatever it is that makes them happy. This definitely reflects in their music and it's no surprise that majority of their tunes focus on the theme of love.
The Mowglis played some of their best songs off their superb 2013 debut, Waiting for the Dawn, including hit single "San Francisco." They also threw two brand new songs into the mix, giving hope that new material could be on the way soon. For anyone that's yet to hear a Mowgli's tune, my essential tracks include - "The Great Divide," "Clean Light," and "Time."
After a set break that seemed a bit longer than necessary, American Authors took the stage. Since seeing these guys and ranking them highly at Big Guava Fest earlier this year, they've only gotten bigger. They have a smash radio hit on their resume, and they've actually backed it up nicely with a decent debut album - Oh, What a Life.
Lead singer Zac Barnett started things off with "Home." This was the first of ten songs from their debut album throughout the night. The front man seems to have fully bought into the teenage rock sensation role, as he went into the crowd and picked out girls individually in the crowd to sing to throughout different parts of the show.
The group did a nice job of keeping fans entertained that may have only known "Best Day of My Life." They threw in covers of both Coldplay's "Yellow," (an all time favorite) and current radio hit Sam Smith's "Stay With Me."
It's been a huge year for American Authors and their performance only indicated that they would continue to build. The band is playing a handful of holiday shows to close out the year.
CONCERT RATING: 2.5 Stars
American Authors Setlist:
1. Home
2. Heart of Stone
3. Believer
4. Luck
5. Ghost
6. Trouble
7. Yellow (Coldplay Cover)
8. Think About It
9. Nothing Better Than You
10. Love
11. Stay With Me (Sam Smith Cover)
12. Hit It!
13. Best Day of My Life
Encore:
14. Keep Me Dreaming
15. Oh, What a Life
Mowgli's Concert Rating: 3 Stars
Mowgli's Setlist:
1. Emily
2. The Great Divide
3. Whatever Forever
4. Kids in Love
5. Love is Easy
6. Summertime
7. Make It Right
8. Say It, Just Say It
9. San Francisco
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