Tai Verdes at iHeartRadio 102.7 KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball 2021 Presented By Capital One at The Forum Dec. 3, 2021 in Inglewood, Los Angeles, California. Verdes served as the main act in the Ohio Union Activities Board’s Buckeye Nation Concert Monday in Columbus, Ohio. Credit: Courtesy of Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency via TNS
The Buckeye Nation Concert featuring Tai Verdes, Taylor Bennett and student musicians cured any Monday blues, allowing students to swap out staggering drabness for sheer delight.
Organized by the Ohio Union Activities Board, the concert was held Monday at the Newport Music Hall. The event was originally scheduled for March 26, but undisclosed complications resulted in postponement. Undaunted by this setback, the four musical acts — A Band Called Dreamland, Jack Harris, Bennett and Verdes — performed with a sense of abandon bordering on recklessness.
Having placed second in the Buck’s Got Talent competition in February, A Band Called Dreamland opened the show with verve. The alternative pop/rock quartet is composed of Brady Bair on keys and vocals, Cooper Bair on drums and backup vocals, Dominick Somerset on guitar and vocals and Aden Weaver on bass, according to its website.
One of the band’s original compositions, “Stupid F—ing Brain,” was particularly memorable. The pace altered between slowness and rapidity, accurately simulating a restless mindset.
The band boasted a playful sound. Its melodies seemed to be bubbly, uplifting and high-spirited in nature; however, when each song inevitably fizzled out, emotional depth remained.
Next up was Harris, who was the winner of Buck’s Got Talent. Emitting an aura of sweetness, which was manifested via canary yellow lighting, his subject matter was innocent yet introspective. In addition to being a proficient singer, Harris was also an enthusiastic storyteller.
His song “Lemonade and Roses” discussed the difficulty of suppressing undesirable feelings. Harris was able to utilize sentimentality in a rare manner, injecting it into his arrangements with understated delicacy. The song “Giant Spider” exemplified this, as it explored the self-awareness that results from paralyzing childhood fears.
Bennett, a hip-hop/rap artist and Chance the Rapper’s younger brother, was third in the lineup. He possessed a formidable stage presence and performed a substantial amount of unreleased music from his upcoming album “Coming of Age,” which will be released April 22.
Bennett is currently traveling to colleges across the country for his “Be Yourself, Be A Champion Tour.” He said the title of this tour reflects his affiliation with the Champion clothing brand.
“This partnership has been amazing,” Bennett said. “The biggest part of me and my brother’s business is accessibility, and Champion partnering with me has given me a huge opportunity to do that.”
Interestingly, Bennett utilized exercise equipment onstage to illustrate the connection between creating music and cultivating strength. When playing “Kickback,” a song from “Coming of Age,” he paused to lift weights and complete a series of pullups, showcasing his stamina as a performer.
Bennett also performed “Fall Short,” a single released earlier this month. Forceful yet emotive, the piece touches on the unavoidable pain of maturity, tying into an overall theme of nostalgia.
“Even to this day, I can remember experiences, people or conversations just by playing certain songs,” Bennett said. “I think that’s how I got into music.”
Two standout anthems from Bennett were “Favorite Colors,” from the album “Restoration of an American Idol” and “Dancing in the Rain” from the album “Broad Shoulders.”
“Favorite Colors” emphasized the importance of self-assuredness, especially in relation to Bennett coming out as bisexual in 2017. “Dancing in the Rain” had a bold yet melancholic tone, accentuated by thunderous sound effects and a rapid string of keyboard notes that were evocative of falling raindrops. Bennett’s enunciation and flow were impeccably clear, cutting through everything else around him.
Finally, pop/R&B singer Verdes closed out the Buckeye Nation Concert in an effortlessly cool manner. His set list included the 2022 single “LAst dAy oN EaRTh,” the songs “Feeling This Bad Never Felt So Great” and “A-O-K” from his 2021 album “TV” and the 2020 single “DRUGS.”
When it came to crowd management, Verdes was accomplished, even hopping offstage and venturing into the audience to preface a number. His energy was groovy and contagious, and his vocal prowess was evident, as heard when he selectively employed a lovely falsetto.
The song “i deserve 2 b alone,” off of “TV,” revealed Verdes’ penchant for paradox. Although the chorus was deceptively bouncy, the lyrics were somewhat self-deprecating and sorrowful, heightening the song’s implications of regret.
Throughout Verdes’ performance, a multitude of geometric lights flickered across the backdrop, bearing resemblance to computerized pixels. Their ever-changing colors, from cherry red to plum purple, matched the shifting moods of every song and the versatility of Verdes himself.
Mondays might be perpetually bleak in theory, but OUAB succeeded in establishing an exception to the rule. The Buckeye Nation Concert was an admirable exhibition of talent, serving as an unforgettable beginning of the week for students in attendance.
Rating: 5/5
