Boys Like Girls…who like Jäger

Boys Like Girls performed at the Ogden Tuesday. (CU Independent/Amanda Mountinho)

The Boston natives who make up Boys Like Girls are mostly known for their fun, upbeat songs centered around boys liking girls and girls liking boys—go figure. Tuesday night the band took the stage at the Ogden Theater in Denver, playing for an audience composed of mostly girls and their boyfriends, who were undoubtedly dragged there.

Their performance was great, making them sound even better than they do on CD. Frontman Martin Johnson sang and played his rhythm guitar flawlessly, accompanied by Paul DiGiovanni on back-up vocals and lead guitar, Bryan Donahue on bass and John Keefe on a set of light up, color-changing drums.

The whole band connected with the audience, sometimes literally. Johnson tried to get as physically close to them as possible, and even crowd surfed a little at the end. His appreciation for the crowd didn’t feel forced or phony at any point. Cara Gordon, 19, of Boulder, said she could feel the whole band’s gratitude and energy.

“They’re excited to be here, and they really love their audience,” Gordon said.

With the release of their second album, “Love Drunk,” the band steered more toward sugary pop lyrics than the creative alternative-inspired sound they achieved on their first CD. But nonetheless they played a good share of songs from both albums, alternating between different sounds.

“I liked how they mixed it up between the harder stuff and their acoustic stuff,” said Jessica Allen, 22, of Denver.

New favorites like “She’s Got a Boyfriend Now” were greeted with keenness from the crowd, but old classics like “Hero/Heroine” and “The Great Escape” shook the theater, with everyone yelling out the lyrics at the top of their lungs.

However, not everyone was excited about Boys Like Girls’ performance. Dan Rutherford, 28, of Denver, said he wasn’t impressed.

After saying he missed most of the set, Rutherford said, “I saw them at Six Flags before.” He sarcastically added, “They were really good in between corn dogs.”

The crowd seemed to agree that opening act Cobra Starship rocked the house.

“Fantastic performance! They put so much energy into their show,” said Liz Boyle, 20, of Boulder.

A common aspect of Cobra Starship’s shows is the pure power behind their performance. Most of that is due to lead singer Gabe Saporta. Between strutting around on stage, flirting with keytarist Victoria Asher, doing quirky dance moves or initiating every member of the audience into the “Cobra Crew,” Saporta made it impossible to not have a good time.

“Epic show! Gabe’s a great front man! He really motivates me,” said Dan Lipsiki, 24.

After the Cobra Starship fans shuffled from the audience, there was a definite change in atmosphere. Even though Boys Like Girls performance was overall enjoyable, there still was a feeling of confusion. Girls still in braces? Loud annoying squeals? No smell of weed? No obnoxious drunk people? Was this a Jonas Brother’s concert or what?!

That particular crowd is to be expected when Boys Like Girls has lyrics like, “I caught it when I kissed you / I’m feeling sick / Girl you’re so contagious.” But it becomes more puzzling when the same band yells, “(Expletive) that bitch! / Let’s get this (expletive) party back on!”

At one point in the night, girls in the audience offered the band shots of Jägermeister, and the band enthusiastically welcomed them on stage to join them. From cheesy lyrics and sappy love songs to welcoming people on stage to take shots of hard liquor?

It makes it hard to grasp the sense of the band when their music is so different from their personas. The band’s split personality left many audience members unsettled.

In the end, Boys Like Girls redeemed themselves from any negative vibes when they pulled a stunt that revealed the true heart and soul of the band. Before their last song, Johnson told the audience to go nuts, have a good time, and even come up on stage. By the end of the song, the stage was filled with fervent coeds who looked as if they were going to explode out of happiness. The gag attested to the band’s sense of character and ended the concert on a memorable note.

Members of the front few rows who ended up on stage were overwhelmingly younger females, while other fans enjoyed different aspects of the show.

“I wish I got to go up there,” Allen said as she sipped a beer. “We were too busy drinking to be in the back.”

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Amanda Moutinho at Amanda.moutinho@colorado.edu.