The Falcon   |   Volume 81, Issue 26

Published 6/02/10   |   Log In

Noah Gundersen enthuses college crowd at cafe show

Brier Rose opens for a sold-out Noah Gunderson show Friday night at the Q- Cafe.
Photo credit: SCOTT STRANNIGAN/The Falcon.

Lively folk musician concludes tour with sold out concert

By LYDIA SIKEN, Features Writer

Published: October 14, 2009

Last Friday night, the Q-Cafe hosted Noah Gundersen and The Courage's final concert on tour. Fans were ready, supportive and lined up 30 feet outside the door by 7:30 p.m.

The concert sold out early in the night. From the sound of grinding coffee to fans chilling out on padded chairs to the folk tunes of the acoustic bands, it was truly a cafe concert. This was the place to be last Friday night. The crowd was mainly college students from the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific, among others in their late teens.

"During the last few songs played by Noah Gundersen, we were standing up in the front row and dancing," said sophomore Samantha Fisher. "It was exciting because members from the previous bands were in front, too, dancing along with us," she said.

After being on tour with Chelsea Seth Woodward from the band Paper Mache, the last stop for The Courage was in their hometown. Their performance included many instrumentalists, such as two violinists, a drummer, two guitarists, a keyboardist and a saxophonist. Their performance was energetic and exciting. Gundersen's higher voice and smooth tone set him apart from the other artists. Yet, when harmonically paired with sister Abby Gundersen, the two were complimentary. Noah Gundersen and The Courage were the evening favorites, determined after chatting with a few SPU students.

"I have all their cds and bought their latest last night," sophomore Kayla Zehner said. "I specifically came to the concert to see Noah's band." Zehner was also in the front row, taking in the dancing and high energy with other college students.

Brier Rose also played at the cafe. Four guys comprise the band, including bassist and SPU junior Nick Taylor. One of the songs the band played is their latest and a favorite of Taylor's titled, "To the Night We Belongeth."

"Brier Rose has been together for three and a half years now," Taylor said. The on stage atmosphere, which Brier Rose projected was a testament to the time they have had together; the band members were all fun and maintained a low key balance as they spoke into the microphone.

After tuning their guitars and figuring out all the sounds, they started out their performance with the band singing a cappella. The harmonization was impressive and a great surprise for the audience. Their other songs included more upbeat rock and pop tempo as the drummer Nate Gemmet popped some fast beats.

Chelsea Seth Woodward from the band Paper Mache followed Brier Rose. Woodward, who has been on tour with Noah Gundersen and The Courage, played an Indie and folk-like set. His thoughts of past experiences were conveyed through his lyrics, which evoked passion as he sang.

Singer-songwriter Jordan Lake opened the show along with drummer Mark Ribera. Lake started out the evening with a sweet guitar folk sound that relaxed the atmosphere, and alternated between keyboard and guitar.

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