The Falcon   |   Volume 83, Issue 53

Published 5/29/13   |   Log In

Audience silenced by Noah Gundersen

Noah Gundersen plays single “Jesus, Jesus” for SPU students in Upper Gwinn Friday night. Accompanying Noah was his sister, Abby Gundersen (not shown), who sang and played violin.
Photo credit: HALEY STOKES/The Falcon.

Gundersen, The Cellar Door play to filled room

By RYAN DALEY, Features Writer

Published: May 16, 2012

Upper Gwinn was filled with canvases last Friday, upon which were painted windows in earthy hues.

The stairs, lined with candles, were filled with students and off-campus guests, all making their ways up to a much-anticipated event: Noah Gundersen in concert.

In the days leading up to the concert, the Seattle Pacific campus had been covered with chalk advertisements, such as “NOAH GUNDERSEN, FRIDAY, UPPER GWINN, $8,” and “KSPU IS COOLER THAN YOUR MOM.”

The day of the concert, before the main attraction, two SPU bands performed for a cheering crowd of classmates and friends. First was Cold Water Theater, which covered, among a few other songs, the classic “This Land is Your Land.”

The room really filled up, however, as The Cellar Door — a favorite of SPU students — began setting up on stage.

The crowd roared at the commencement of an original Cellar Door song, which was directly followed by a smooth rendition of “Down to the River to Pray,” also gaining much applause.

The band announced that the digital — and now physical — release of its single “Spring” had gone off without a hitch and proceeded to play the songs from the EP. “Spring” and “Ground” were sung with confidence and perceivable affection.

Throughout the rest of its performance, The Cellar Door displayed its ability to effortlessly mingle harmonies and bring forth emotionally charged dynamics from the depths of the band members’ hearts.

The Cellar Door played for “Silent Avenue” — clearly a crowd favorite — before Gundersen himself performed.

Sam Hoshin, a singer from The Cellar Door, expressed her gratefulness in being there that evening.

“It was really cool to play before [Noah Gundersen], and of course it’s always great to play at SPU, before friends and familiar faces,” she said.

Hoshin also said of the new single, “Spring,” “We’ve gotten a lot of downloads so far. I’m glad we have a new avenue to share our music with people.”

Gundersen on the other hand, having just released his latest EP, Family, is currently in the middle of a tour.

Having stopped in Seattle, close to home, he is next heading to the South for a concert in Nashville, Tenn., later this week.

He and his sister — with whom he works closely on his music — took the stage with shy smiles and began with their song “Poor Man’s Son,” enchanting half of the audience into submission.

Many sat on the floor. Both singing, Gundersen played the guitar, and his sister played the violin.

After the song, Gundersen commented on the seated portion of the audience.

“So um… this is super awkward,” he said.

The seated half eventually stood up again, to much booing from those seated happily in the back.

The chemistry between him and his sister was apparent, as he and she would always come away from their microphones to face one another during instrumental portions of songs and occasionally banter back and forth.

At one point, Gundersen said to the audience, “Sometimes the mom in me comes out at shows, and I’m like, ‘are you guys still doing OK?’”

His sister chimed in.

“Noah’s going to be a good mom someday,” she said.

Gundersen responded using a lisp.

“Do you need your apples peeled?” he said.

They continued with the song “Jesus, Jesus,” which cast a heavy silence over the entire room. Tears were spilt.

Emily Anderson drove from Western Washington University in Bellingham for the concert.

“I think it’s funny that as soon as he mentions Jesus, everyone gets quiet,” she said.

Helene Beck, who drove to the concert from Pacific Lutheran University, said, “[Noah Gundersen] is probably my favorite artist, so it was really awesome seeing him perform live for the third or fourth time.

“He is a very engaging artist even though the music is slow and low-key, and it’s awesome how he can keep an audience of college students quiet and entertained.”

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