photos and words by Cam Penner

Through an abbreviated, hourlong set, I felt as close to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros as I might be to good friends I haven’t seen in years. The band’s chemistry with the crowd made me feel like they were just as happy to see me, too.

But before reuniting with the pals I’d never met, The Giving Tree Band offered a pleasant surprise of folk that might melt your face off with fiddle and slide guitar solos. The six-piece band’s sound layered different acoustic instruments, which led naturally into Edward Sharpe.

Everything about Edward Sharpe’s music and energy onstage beamed friendship, and the closeness wasn’t only metaphorical. Singer Alex Ebert made his way into the audience multiple times.

At one point, he grabbed a disco-ball-antennae headband from a member of the audience, and later on enjoyed a conversation with a fan who proclaimed their love for him.

The moment that made the experience unique, though, happened during one of the band’s most well-known songs, “Home.” During the part of the song where Alex Ebert tells a story to singer, Jade Castrinos, he asked the audience for stories instead.

One story told the tale of two friends bringing a penguin to the show and losing him in the crowd. Another followed a couple finding love through a longboarding accident and emergency room visit.

This reunion of friends was unfortunately cut short due to an impending thunderstorm, but even though we didn’t get to catch up as much as we might have liked, I still felt like I knew Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: not just their music, but who they are as people.

See for yourself what both bands brought to The Stir Cove last Tuesday:

Cam Penner is a Hear Nebraska intern. He highly recommends listening to The Giving Tree Band. Reach him at camp@hearnebraska.org.