Fans of all ages filled Newport Music Hall for Judah & the Lion’s Happy Again Tour which was sure to have a full set of uplifting tunes.
Singer-songwriter Adam Paddock kicked the night off at Newport Music Hall for Judah & the Lion. Paddock shared during the show that he recently graduated in December from The Ohio State University which is located across the street from the venue. Paddock seemed to be excited about opening for Judah & the Lion on his home turf.
Paddock was accompanied on stage by an impressive full band. Paddock is a natural entertainer who knows how to energetically work the stage and communicate with fans in the audience. Paddock played songs from his COLUMBUS AGAINST THE WORLD album, which Paddock recently had the opportunity to play at Newport on a previous occasion. If interested, Spotify recorded this previous session and you can find it listed under Adam Paddock’s account. Paddock’s songs “MAKE IT TODAY” and “WEEKEND” had fans hyped up and well warmed up for Judah & the Lion to take the stage next.
Judah & the Lion took the stage next to continue another night of their Happy Again Tour for their fourth album titled Revival. Judah Akers (lead vocals and guitar) and Brian Macdonald (vocals and mandolin) make up the folk-rock duo from Nashville, Tennessee.To start their set, the duo opened with their song “Take a Walk” from their latest album Revival. “Take a Walk” is a realistic telling of how life can be difficult, but despite the hardships that life throws at us, there’s still optimism for happiness ahead. The lyrics “Me and my friends used to laugh/ Without havin’ to try/ Now they’re off to rehab/ And I’m sayin’ goodbye” and “And one day, we’ll be happy again/ And we’ll be innocent/ Just like when we were kids” encapsulates the juxtaposing themes of hardship and happiness that we all experience along our journey in life.
Judah & the Lion continued with their second song of the night, “Quarter-Life Crisis,” and followed up with “Over My Head” which are both songs about the feeling and struggles of finding self-purpose. To start, “Quarter-Life Crisis” is a very relatable song for anyone going “through” something. The lyrics “So will you come, come, come, come help me through? / Will you come, come, come, come help me through this?” amplifies the notion of helping each other through the difficult and most vulnerable parts of our lives. “Over My Head” opens with the lyrics “What’s my purpose huh?” and judging by the volume of the crowd during these lyrics, fans related to this feeling of uncertainty.
To take the night home, Judah & the Lion made sure to play arguably their most popular song from their second album Folk Hop n’Roll, “Take It All Back” which has over 93 million plays on Spotify.
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