Walk the Moon gets people moving at Dragonfly | The Triangle

Walk the Moon gets people moving at Dragonfly

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DragonFly 2018 was a great kickoff to midterms for students. It featured indie-pop band Walk the Moon, known primarily for their hits “One Foot” and “Shut Up and Dance.” They performed in Lot F on campus Oct. 20.

Walk the Moon is one of those bands who have some music on the radio, but are otherwise  relatively unknown. Unless you frequent the Top 40 hits, it is quite possible you had never heard of Walk the Moon before. The group  has been around since 2006, but they only became popular in 2014 with their album “TALKING IS HARD” which featured “Shut Up and Dance.”

Even though a more popular artist would have been nice to see at DragonFly this year, Walk the Moon held their own. Most of the audience was compelled to “Shut Up and Dance,” because they did not know the lyrics, but the music was physically moving.

For a free show, the concert was unexpectedly engaging and entertaining . They encouraged a lot of crowd participation, which enabled the crowd to connect to a band they were seemingly unfamiliar with. A lot of their songs have the same vibe, with a lot of “oohs” in the background, so they used that to their advantage. It was easy to get caught up in the mood that Walk The Moon had created, waving hands along with the beat and the “oohs.”

The size of the concert was ideal. It was easy to see the stage from wherever you stood, and Walk the Moon’s enticing music drew people closer.  Walk the Moon was a great choice for DragonFly because their upbeat music is great for a night out dancing. The general admission atmosphere was perfect for a band like them.

The disappointment of the night came when the band’s lead singer, Nick Petricca went to crowd surf. He could not even manage to lay down all the way before he gave up. The people in the front were too eager to capture a picture before they had the chance to prop him up.

The setlist was appropriately short. They covered all their biggest hits such as “Kamikaze” and “One Foot” with their lesser known songs like “Different Colors” and “Anna Sun” to keep the crowd interested the entire time. They kept the pace of their show and did not take pauses between songs. There were no slow songs in the set; they kept the atmosphere upbeat and light.

The one time they did pause was to address how important it is to vote. The entire crowd rallied in support of this message which was refreshing to see. Even though the topic of voting can often bring out partisan politics, Petricca did a good job of keeping the message general to not offend anyone.

Overall, the messages behind Walk the Moon’s songs were very positive and encouraging. The perfect vibe for a pre-midterm show.

Walk the Moon does not have any more Philadelphia dates on their tour, so DragonFly was the last chance to see them here in 2018. DragonFly was free for undergrad students, but Walk the Moon would definitely be worth the paid show. As a whole, the concert was extremely refreshing and uplifting. They did not take too many risks, but they did really help bring a sense of community to Drexel at their performance.