X Ambassadors say hey to Ottawa

“And I say hey…” That’s how far lead singer Sam Harris got into “Renegade” before the audience took over. Starting a show in the middle of your biggest hit is an unusual choice, but the effect on the room was electric.

Opener Noah Gunderson is a singer-songwriter in the traditional mode – sharing the stage with nothing but a guitar, a microphone, and the ghosts of his past. His eight song solo set was well-received, but even he acknowledged that his acoustic energy wasn’t what the crowd had come for. 

Then, during the break between acts, the smoke machines set off a fire alarm in a nearby building. X Ambassadors were delayed a short time until Ottawa Fire Services could silence the alarm. As a result, they faced a crowd that wasn’t as warmed up as they could have been. Didn’t make a difference. Five seconds into that chorus, the audience was already on fire. After Harris ran the audience through the chorus a couple of times, the rest of the band joined in for a full run of the hit song, driven by Adam Levin’s bass drum. A similar beat under “No Strings” kept the crowd vibrating on the same frequency. 

The show transitioned easily between uptempo rockers and more restrained and introspective songs. Harris is a compelling front man and he’s almost as good at telling the stories behind the songs as he is at singing them. His unusual stage dancing might actually be more compelling than either stories or vocals. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but as he weaves around the stage, his limbs seem to somehow be both flailing madly and completely in control. It’s hard to look away. 

The most touching moment came as Harris explained that “Your Town” was about Todd Peterson, the music teacher who inspired them to greater things but reminded them not to forget where they came from. They clearly haven’t forgotten, as the small town looms large on the new album, Townie, and in the setlist for this tour. 

The show included songs about Harris’s high school sweetheart and now wife (“Half Life”), losing a childhood friend (“Rashad”), drifting away from another old friend (“Friend For Life”). There are songs about driving around high with your friends (“Smoke on the Highway”) and then for the band introductions, “Start a Band”. 

The main set ended with the audience singing along emotionally to “Unsteady” and after a brief break, the band lit the stage back up with the bangers “Boom” and “Jungle”. In keeping with the theme of the night, they closed out the show with “Sunoco”, about the biggest choice any small town kid faces – the one between staying and leaving. Fans of the band can only be glad they made the choice they did. 

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