While fans suffered in the heat at last week’s installment of the Alive@Five summer concert series, this week the weather forecast promises a slightly less sweltering summertime performance. Singer-songwriter John Ondrasik, who performs under the stage name Five for Fighting, will bring the deep sounds of his piano-led rock and wholesome guitar chords to Stamford as this week’s Alive @ 5 headliner. Ondrasik’s lyrics, which tend to be based around stories and life experiences, ooze accessibility - pleasing audiences since the mid-1990s.
Favorite Five for Fighting tracks include Top 40 hits like “100 Years,” “The Riddle,” and “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” a Grammy-nominated song that launched Five for Fighting into the national spotlight. Five for Fighting’s sound is reminiscent of the pure musical craftsmanship of other crooners such as Train and Lifehouse, as Five for Fighting earns its spot in a genre sometimes described as “heartland rock.”
Opening for Five for Fighting is New Jersey native Ian Axel. Fresh from a northeastern tour, Axel aims to bring “playful anthems” for the Alive @ 5 audience. As a songwriter recently turned singer-songwriter, Axel uses music as a way to describe his personal transformations as both a person and a musical artist. His tracks are energetic – described in his musical biography as blending together “classic piano” with “contemporary confessional” music and some additional quirkiness to suit the taste of indie music fans.
Axel seems down to earth, slightly quirky and just a little bit hipster. And with a sound described as “an encapsulation of what it feels like to be young and be new,” he is likely to cater to the musical cravings of the local teenagers and twenty-something patrons.
The second opener for this week’s concert is Blip Blip Bleep (BBB), a New York based band also full of youthful spirit and energy. BBB’s music is packed with exciting electro-pop personality and a repertoire of “catchy hooks” and “intelligent songwriting.”
While still slowly creeping into the spotlight, the members of BBB are no strangers to the stage. The trio frequently performs in New York City and has toured on college campuses, in clubs across the nation and even opened for Paramore and Tegan & Sara at a Honda Civic Tour performance at Jones Beach, according to the band’s website. Their tracks have also been featured on television shows and Internet programming.
After the release of a few successful EPs, BBB released their first full-length LP, Like Track Stars, in 2010. The album is packed with upbeat and catchy songs that fuse with techno beats and lyrics that make BBB unique. The band takes a step away from the basic (and typical) pop sounding music of today, as catchy meets more intense creativity.
