ALY AND AJ AT THE FOUNDRY IN PHILADELPHIA, PA
After a ten year break, Aly and AJ are back on the road again on the Promises tour.
Opening up for the duo was Rainsford. It was her first time out touring and she took the stage as if she’s been on hundreds of tours. The instrumentals seemed quite simple but were supported by Rainsford’s incredible voice. She naturally soared over her high notes and provided the audience with a beautiful, strong vibrato. In addition to performing music from her EP Emotional Support Animal, she also performed a great cover of “Stand By Me” that had the audience moving and singing along.
When Aly and AJ took the stage, it felt as though they had never taken a break. The duo put on such an amazing, energetic performance full of old tunes, new tunes, and funny stories about forgetting a passport in Canada before coming out to tour. Another notable moment of the show was when Aly and AJ had an on-stage proposal after calling up a fan that had contacted them on Twitter. The two made the show seem very casual for their fans which made for a friendly atmosphere. Throughout the entire show, the girls’ vocals played off of each other as they sang harmonies over one another, fitting perfectly together. At the end of “With You”, the girls threw in a brief cover of “Under the Sea” which had the crowd going wild. They ended the set before the encore with “Rush”, but had revamped the end to include a heavy rock outro. After coming back onstage, the girls performed a dark and sultry cover of “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”. Aly and AJ created a soft atmosphere during the song and it was amazing to see how quiet the entire crowd became. It was almost as if you could’ve heard a pin drop during their short vocal pauses throughout the song. Something incredible about the performance the duo gave is how they were able to turn a mood from zero to sixty from one song to another. Following such a quiet performance was “Potential Breakup Song”, which the crowd had been highly anticipating. Everyone in the room was rocking out as the familiar, “You’re not living ‘til you’re living” chorus line was delivered. Audience members left the Foundry with feelings of nostalgia for the older catalogue, as well as excitement for the new music and return of Aly and AJ. The girls put on a fabulous show and brought out a great talent for their opener. If you get the chance to catch them on the remainder of this tour I highly recommend you try to make it out!
Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!