Photo taken by Laura Francavilla
New Yorkers were treated to a concert at the Barclay Center like no other. On October 17th, DJ duo The Chainsmokers, pop-punk band 5 Seconds of Summer, and solo artist Lennon Stella rocked the stage for their World War Joy North American tour in a four hour show with amazing music, lighting effects, and performances.
Kicking off the concert was Lennon Stella, known for her starring role in a drama series, “Nashville.” She performed hit songs such as “Kissing Other People,” “Bad,” “La Di Da” and many more. The crowd was totally in the mood as they danced and sang to all of her songs.
After Stella’s amazing performance, Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer, commonly known as 5SOS, lit up the stage. Consisting of Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, Michael Clifford, and Ashton Irwin, the band is known for making each show unique for their audience. Starting their set with one of their first singles, “She Looks So Perfect,” everyone in the crowd got on their feet to sing along. The band played a mix of their old music and new music from their most recent album Youngblood, as well as their most recent singles “Easier” and “Teeth.”
The band also spoke to the audience in between songs. Drummer Ashton Irwin, before starting their song “Waste the Night,” gave an inspirational speech.
“The world can take [explicit] everything from us, but they can’t take what we do on stage,” he said. “We want to give you every single thing we have.”
After a short intermission, the crowd finally was treated to seeing The Chainsmokers. Consisting of Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, they were also accompanied on stage by drummer Matt McGuire. They invited back Lennon Stella and 5SOS to performed their hit singles with them.
Along with performing fan favorites such as “Something Just Like This,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “Beach House,” and many more, the audience was amazed by the lighting effects on stage. Lasers and even fire were used on stage with each song. Taggart and Pall also performed an unreleased song “Push My Luck.” Taggart admitted he was nervous to perform the song for the first time. Surprisingly, hip-hop artist Sheck Wes, known for his hit single “Mo Bamba,” made an appearance on stage.
Motorcycle stunt group, the Urias Family, wowed the audience with their skills and even rode around in a giant caged sphere on the stage. Other highlights of the show was a dance-off between an audience member and Taggart on stage, with Taggart losing.
World War Joy’s Tour at the Barclays Center is a show no one in the audience will ever forget. Each artist truly owned the stage, and even if some concert-goers weren’t familiar with the song or artist, they were able to enjoy themselves in a fun-filled concert.
