By Savanna Pettengill

I’m not one to get too personal in my work, but there is a little known fact about me here in the Girls Who Snap World: I am a STEAM-based arts and special educator outside of my life as a photographer. Naturally, as a middle-of-the-generation millennial (class of 2007), one of my go-to resources for inspiration for my students has been the brilliant work of OK GO. From the music itself, to the lyrical wisdom, to the well-planned and articulated video concepts for songs such as “This Too Shall Pass”, “Here it Goes Again”, “Needing/Getting”, “Sky Scrapers”, “Last Leaf”, and “Upside Down and Inside Out”, the life's work of this band has become a cornerstone of my safe-for-school and cool curriculum.

When I heard they were touring near me, I was pretty ecstatic to finally see these modern-day artistic geniuses and their crew live in action. I wasn’t prepared for the night of fun, awe, and especially the intimate connection between the band and their dedicated fans.

The kind and generous folks at The Music Hall in Portsmouth New Hampshire were well prepared for a sold out show for a crowd of over 600 on Friday night, June 10.

There were several surprises to the night, the first one being the opening act, Michael Wilbur, saxophonist of Brooklyn-based band, Moon Hooch and accompanied by DJ Aims. Wilbur’s enthusiasm, control over the variety of horns, and partnered with DJ Aim’s crowd work onstage as Wilbur played through the crowd and both sang lyrics really set the energized tone for the rest of the night.

The crowd prepared for what was to come:

Songs were literally layered with different colors of confetti being rocketed out at OK GO and their crowd throughout their set, starting with “This Too Shall Pass”. The enthusiastic crowd was diverse across age, and full of questions for the “ask me anything” portions of the night, as OK GO’s crew shuffled gear in and out between three song groupings in the hour and a half set. One fan even requested the song “Oh Lately, It’s so Quiet”. After new song “A Good, Good Day at Last” the 3D interior of the band’s new, double-LP album, And the Adjacent Possible, was opened for the crowd to see murmuring a seawave of “ooohhhhhh” in response. Handbells were brought out for “Shooting the Moon”, and the band made sure to wear white gloves and explain “There are a million people on Youtube who would be mad at us if we didn’t”.

Frontman Damien Kulash came out into the crowd for a touching and spot-lit “sad song” moment with “This is How it Ends/Where is My Mind” (a combined OK GO and Pixies Cover), while the band prepared for my personal favorite song of the night “Needing/Getting”. In the continued AMA throughout the night, the crowd got personal insight into the band member’s personal lives, including that Kulash has ties to summering in New Hampshire, that he and bassist, Tim Norwind first met at age 12 at summer camp, and that the band’s final form took place around their college era when last member, (guitarist, keyboardist and video project manager) Andy Ross joined the trio including drummer Dan Konopka “over 20 years ago” as Kulash answered more “ask anything” questions.

Songs like “Better than This” and “Love” got across the more humanist undertones of the work of the band, and complexities of being artists, partners, and parents in today’s America. OK GO ended the set with their best known song, “Here it Goes Again”, you know, the one we all know with the treadmills. A two-song encore ended the performance with “A Stone Only Rolls Downhill” and “The One Moment”.

As fans waited for set lists and guitar picks from different members, some were celebrating their 30th show with OK GO, and children played in the piles of rainbow confetti, which included in its last layer, little red paper hearts. The energy was positive and hope was in the air as ushers moved the crowd along into the warm night air of downtown Portsmouth.