Mandy Moore’s Oct. 5 performance at the Fox Theatre reflects a new, more mature style
I don’t care if you like Mandy Moore’s music.
Or if “Wild Hope” brought you to tears just like that time you decided to bring your 7th grade crush to “A Walk to Remember” — I bet you didn’t get a kiss goodnight either.
It really doesn’t matter what your opinion of her acting skills is, or if you think she’s better than Jessica Simpson or not.
No matter what you think, Mandy Moore is cute — extremely bubblegum-puts-a-smile-on-your-face-every-time-she-speaks cute.
Now it may seem as though I’m just gushing over a celebrity crush, but in this cuteness lays the secret to her success.
As I entered the Fox Theatre Friday night, I noticed a very diverse crowd; the preteens who use Moore’s songs to cope with the hardships of growing up, the college-aged coffee drinkers who would be more apt to snap after each song than clap, the girls who have memorized every lyric on the album and treated me to performances of their own, the over-protective boyfriends whose main objective was to get their girl to the front and the adults who fit into the aforementioned categories as well.
Abruptly, the background music silenced and the lights slid to darkness. Several soft claps evolved into an eruption of cheers and applause.
The moment was finally here, each band member entered from the back of the stage up the stairs from the green room taking their places next to their instruments.
Mandy appeared from the darkness and the cheers turned into screams of immense excitement. Scanning the room, I noticed several fans already had tears of joy running down their faces.
As the applause died down, the jovial pop star set her coffee thermos next to her microphone and with a grin greeted the audience with a subtle “hello.” Dressed in a drooping, brown-patterned dress to match her current hair color, she looked back at her band and the show began.
The overall theme of the show reflected that of her newest album, emphasizing a matured Moore. Furthermore, the songs were all performed more intimately as Moore wrote or co-wrote the album.
A few of the standout songs included the uplifting “Extraordinary,” as Moore repeated the song’s hook “and now I’m ready, and now I’m ready to be: extraordinary” she was met with playful yells from the audience. “All Good Things” teamed with stunning back-up vocals is a very catchy song that also showcases Moore’s vocal range.
Near the end of the night, Moore added several more dimensions to her performance as she picked up a guitar (although only strumming several chords), and even put a new, acoustic spin on Rihanna’s “Umbrella.”
Although, she wasn’t doing the greatest job of escaping her cutesy-cute image, Moore was well in-tune with the crowd. Her comments between songs included a tangent about her addiction to shopping, and how “boys are retarded” before engaging into a somber love ballad.
“I like her new sound, it’s different from her old album — it’s a bit folksy,” Laura Tippit, a sophomore biology major, said. “She made herself seem more human than other performers I’ve seen; like how she brought her guitar out even though she didn’t know how to play — it made her more personable.”
The crowd was pleasantly surprised to hear Moore belted “I’m so addicted, to the lovin’ that you’re feeding me.” Apparently everyone in the crowd was watching TRL in 1999 too, because they were all singing along to Moore’s mega-hit “Candy” which originally propelled her into pop stardom.
Couples serenaded each other; former-choir students harmonized and the now intoxicated boyfriends had their arms around each other swaying in unison. The crowd was the most energized of the entire night as the song ended and Moore thanked everyone for supporting her.
The star had barely even left the stage when chants for an encore began. Not testing the audience’s patience, the band cheerfully jogged back onto the stage.
Before they began their extra performance of a song “we just can’t get out of our head” as Moore put it, the guitarist noted how this was Moore’s first tour and she’s doing a great job. Cheering from the crowd reimbursed that claim.
Mandy was all smiles as she concluded her concert, performing a couple more upbeat songs including a duet with her guitarist. She once again thanked the audience and waved as she exited the stage.
The lights turned up and background music faded in again to halt any chance of a second encore.
Overall, the show was a success.
The band sounded great, and Mandy actually has a pretty good live voice. However, she wasn’t the most mobile performer as she hovered around the same area throughout the concert. Regardless of this, it was apparent that Mandy was very happy and having a good time throughout the entire show.
Leaving the venue, it was impossible to find anyone who was not beaming from the show — like they had finally received that goodnight kiss after a first date.
Moore declined to comment for this story.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Devon Taylor at devon.taylor@colorado.edu
