show review: walk off the earth at the paradise

over the past three years, some of you might have heard me raving about walk off the earth, a canadian indie band that became famous with a youtube cover of gotye's "somebody that i used to know" that featured all five band members playing one guitar. while it was undoubtedly amazing, it was their back catalog of innovative cover videos that launched me into full-blown obsession mode for a few months. like this reggae-fied rendition of wiz khalifa's "roll up:"



i had the pleasure of seeing them live in orlando back in 2012, and they put on a killer show, so i was really stoked about the chance to see them last night in boston as they toured in front of their upcoming album, sing it all away. it was fantastic!

they played a perfect mix of original songs from their last album REVO, cover tunes -- including pharrell's "happy" and madonna's "material girl" -- and of course, tracks from the new record. as this is their second major-label release, i was curious if and how their sound would change. i was pleasantly surprised to find that while they've certainly gotten a little more adventurous with melodies and tempo, they still have that buoyant, exciting energy that i love.

most of all, you can feel the passion that WOTE has for playing music, and get the sense that they'd be just as happy playing on a street corner as they would to a completely packed rock club. plus, the entire band just oozes talent, and all of the members switched instruments throughout the night with ease. sidenote: gianni and sarah, two of the lead vocalists, are kind of the cutest rock 'n roll couple ever, and i love them. also, sarah is super-pregnant with baby #2, and she rocked the hell out of this little black number. get it, girl!

my favorite part of the evening, without a doubt, was the encore. of course, they had to reenact the performance that got them their big break. but halfway through the song, they switched into a flawless medley of covers, including miley cyrus' "wrecking ball," "rude" by magic!, and avicii's "wake me up."

following that, they launched into a perfectly sunny song from their last album, called "summer vibe." beach balls were tossed into the crowd, random people came up onstage to dance, and general merriment ensued.

basically, a walk off the earth concert is like a giant beach party where everyone is singing and dancing and smiling and just feelin' fine. i haven't had that much fun at a show in forever. if you like music and happiness, go see them!