Canadian band Walk off the Earth (WOTE) kicked off the fall semester with a bang, a symphony, and the toot of a kazoo when they took the stage on Sept. 9 for Carleton University’s Fall Orientation concert.
Though the concert took place in a parking lot, the band transported the crowd into a stadium right from the get-go, and captivated the audience until the very last chord.
The band was preceded by the alt-pop stylings of the Australian Hein Cooper, whose silky voice and catchy guitar interludes kept the crowd immersed, whether they were dancing to his cool rhythms or thrusting their phones to the sky to some of his slower songs. Cooper’s crowd interactions, genuine lyrics, and smooth beats ignited the crowd and left them begging for more upon his exit from the stage.
After a brief intermission featuring awards for the Frosh teams, WOTE arrived on the stage in highly dramatic fashion—wearing dark hoods, they began to beat drums aggressively on the unlit stage. This striking performance served to set the tone that would remain for the duration of the show.
The drumming transitioned into their first song—their smash hit “Rule the World.” As soon as the first chords rang out, the stage was suddenly awash with light, and the show evolved into a concert of upbeat, happy songs to get the crowd moving and liberated, at least temporarily, from the worries of beginning a new school year.
Following this song, the band transformed the audience into a chorus of voices. After the band sang the line “Oh oh, sing it all away,” the audience responded with “sing it all away my darling.” This response would be echoed throughout the show, keeping the audience engaged and involved with the performance.
What followed was a series of songs, including a number of originals—most of which the audience sang along to with ease—and a slew of pop covers. While the originals were highly entertaining in their own right, the covers stole the show, notably an eerie rendition of Adele’s “Hello” played with tubes, Pharrell’s “Happy,” which featured instruments ranging from melodicas to kazoos, and a surprise cover of Madonna’s “Material Girl.”
For their encore, the band performed their biggest hit, 2013’s “Red Hands,” and a medley of songs all played on a single guitar, including “I Can’t Help Myself” by the Four Tops, “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber, and, of course, Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know”—the cover that originally launched WOTE into international stardom.
WOTE’s performance was nothing less than a symphony of joy, leaving the students who attended with a smile on their faces and an optimistic outlook on the remainder of the school year.
