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| Emblem Three (2014) |
Last March, I saw the band Emblem Three during their first ever headlining tour called Bandlife. Emblem Three is a pop rock band from Sequim, Washington who moved to Los Angeles. The three members are Drew Chadwick and brothers Keaton and Wesley Stromberg. In 2012, the group auditioned on the US X Factor. They ended in 4th place. Soon after, Simon Cowell singed the act on his label and they started to work on their first album
Nothing To Lose. The album had descent sales and a solid fan base forming.
In 2013, the album was released and they toured with Selena Gomez as an opener. Just recently, they are working independently on a second album. It will be released soon and a second tour, Fireside Story Sessions, is currently on sale for this summer. Emblem3 just released a rerecording of some of their songs called
Songs From the Couch Volume 1 that is available to download on iTunes now and was number 2 on the charts. The group is very talented and has a california beach sound. It's upbeat, rocking, and passionate. During the Bandlife tour, the pop/rap group MKTO was one of their openers. MKTO is a new pop/rap group that consists of Tony Oller and Malcolm Kelley. MKTO has released their first album and has major success with their song
Classic. They will be doing their first headlining tour this summer with tickets now on sale. MKTO did a great job opening the show. The two were energetic, excited and goofy. During the other opener Jackson Guthy, the two poped their heads out on the side of the curtains and waved to some fans. During their set, they got the crowd pumped up and singing along. Malcolm Kelley can rap so fast and Tony Oller has a great range. The two together make a pop sound that will make you want to dance and sing. They left the crowd wanting more. Then Emblem Three came on the stage and the crowd was roaring with screams and tears of happiness were seen all around. The three rode in on skateboards and went up a ramp. They then bursted out into song and everyone was singing along. Throughout the show, they played songs from Nothing To Lose, such as
One Day, XO, Chole, and covers,
Can't Hold Us and
Hotel California as well as songs
Indigo and
Riptide from before the album. The three all have different styles of singing and performing. Drew raps, sings, plays the guitar and will lock eyes with a certain fan for long periods of time. At the show, my friend Leticia and I wore lighted necklaces and Drew kept staring at us. It was a cool moment and one I will never forget. Drew has such a big heart and is a singer I really like. Wesley, also know as Wes, has a unique loud commanding voice that he can belt out and hit high notes. He also plays the guitar and likes to run across the stage. During the show both Drew and Wes climbed on top of the speakers and towered over the crowd. Drew was even brave enough to crowd surf. Keaton plays the bass and also sings, but not as much as Drew or Wes. Keaton has a softer voice that is only used here and there, but he sure can growl. Keaton jumped off the stage to the barriers to try and shake fans hands also. All three guys connected to their fans as much as they could and tried to reach out to as many fans' hands as they could. The staging gave off a relaxed, laid back mood. Their was a couch, in which they invited a few fans to sit on for part of the show, skateboard ramps, christmas-like lights, lava lamps, surfboards and a huge E3 sign. Overall, the show was exciting, passionate and pure fun. The show ended with the group's popular song
Chloe and a beautiful cover of
Hotel California. In my photos I hoped to capture the different personalities and styles of performing. Enjoy the photos and go see MKTO and Emblem Three if you have the chance!
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| Tony (2014) |
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| Drew Strumming (2014) |
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| Keaton (2014) |
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| Drew (2014) |
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| Malcolm (2014) |
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| Wesley (2014) |
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| Stromberg Brothers (2014) |
