Monday: Emblem3 at the Belmont

Emblem3 at the Belmont in Austin

Now, let me just say that I was a huge fan of Emblem3 when they were on the X Factor - I voted for them religiously every week and have been kind of waiting with baited breath for their album.  I do have to admit, though, I was a little disappointed when their first single, Chloe (You're The One I Want) came out.  It still had hints of their style that they had in older songs, but it was more poppy and boy bandish.  Still, I did really like them and when I heard they were coming to Austin, I knew I needed to see them.

Emblem3 is a hip-hop/reggae/pop fusion band from California made up of brothers Wesley and Keaton Stromberg and friend Drew Chadwick.  They were on the X Factor last year, coming in 4th place, and have since been signed to Simon Cowell's record company with their debut album coming out on July 30th of this year.

They started the concert off with a new song, Girl Next Door.  This one I was not very impressed with - the lyrics were pretty weak and it, like Chloe, made them sound like a boy band. However, they followed it up immediately with an older song, Reason, which brought them back to a very Sublime influenced beach rock style.  They managed to work the stage amazingly, though it was very small, very hot, and there were only about 100 people there.  They reached out to their fans, walked through the crowd, wore the ridiculous hats fans had thrown to them, and at one point, Drew actually did a back flip on the stage.  Still, they remained genuine, thanking everyone for being there, having a great time and supporting them, as well as promising to meet fans outside afterward.

Wesley singing

After a few energetic songs, they slowed it down and told the crowd to put their phones and, to paraphrase Drew, "experience the music as humans", bringing out their acoustic guitars for a performance of a new song, Jaiden.  I do have to admit this wasn't exactly a fantastic song - in fact, it's painfully cheesy - but it's the biggest guilty pleasure song I have ever heard. They sang it beautifully, featuring Wesley's fantastic vocals.

However, the spell cast over the audience with this song was quickly gone as they went straight back into another set of fast songs, and quickly the cell phones returned.  To close it all they played Chloe, calling for the crowd to sing along.  They obliged and sang, jumped up and down, and screamed until it was hard to hear anything at all.  They left the stage, waving and thanking the crowd.  But wait - they hadn't played the song they played at their first audition, the song that got them this far, the song that everybody knew and loved and had been waiting for the whole time.  So, five minutes and many shouted chants of "EMBLEM3! EMBLEM3! EMBLEM3!" later, they were back out with an encore of Sunset Blvd., bringing the crowd to their feet, screaming out the lyrics, leaving a feeling of excitement and contentedness that wouldn't leave for hours.

Throughout the concert, they played eight new songs, including the weaker, more poppy Nothing To Lose, Teenage Kings, and Spaghetti along with the stronger Just For One Day and XO, along with four older ones, including Riptide and Curious.  They also featured their version of Matisyahu's One Day.  Overall, I was amazed at at how well they worked the stage, even in a small place.  Though there were a few songs off of their new record I did not like, there were still plenty of good ones to balance them out.  I would absolutely go see them again - today, preferably.  I will definitely be back to Emblem3 in about three weeks to really review their full, newly released album.