The band was created by current member Dan Layus who brought three of his high school friends together with the intention of starting a rock band. Their full length debut album was released in 2003, with a meagre 1000 copies being produced. Layus, after this disappointment, moved to Southern California with one bandmate, picked up a drummer and began what would be his incline to success. In California, the band toured with several established artists including Switchfoot, Maroon 5, The Fray, Snow Patrol and Goo Goo Dolls. Indeed, the band’s musical style is often compared many of these bands that they toured with.
The band’s first successful album was called ‘All the Stars and Boulevards’ and was released September 6, 2005. It reached number one on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and number 96 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The accompanying single, also released in 2005, was titled ‘Boston’ and remains Augustana’s best-selling and biggest single to date. Other well-known singles of the band’s include ‘Sweet and Low’, ‘Twenty Years’ and ‘Hey Now’, all of which are from their second album, ‘Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt’. Many of these songs appeared on famous television shows, including One Tree Hill and Friday Night Lights, generating the band some well-deserved publicity.
The band have since released two more albums, ‘Augustana’ and ‘Life Imitating Life’. Throughout it’s time, the band has seen many members come and go. All members, original and old, consist of Jared Palomar (bass guitar, vocals), Chris Sachtleben (lead guitar, vocals), Justin South (drums), Josiah Rosen (lead guitar, vocals), John Vincent (piano, organ, keyboards, vocals), Josh Calhoun (drums) and, of course, founder and leader Dan Layus.
Augustana provides a show full of energy and passion. Something unique about the performance was that Dan Layus (lead singer) spoke maybe a few sentences to the audience throughout the show. The setlist was 26 songs with few breaks. The lack of audience interaction did not hamper the stage presence. The performance of the songs were spot on, with Dan holding high and low notes throughout the night. "Sweet and Low" was very notable live. There were a few modifications to the pauses, notes, and beat, but the energy put into the instrumentals was incredible. I think back to the live performance when I listen to my iPod and for that reason it is now one of my favorite Augustana songs. While Augustana's more recent hits have been guitar focused, the keyboard was an essential part of the live performance. "Remember Me" was performed solely by Dan on the piano. The emotion he put into this song was incredible. He almost looked as if he were tearing up towards the end. With just the piano, Dan's voice, and the fans singing along, you felt even more attached to this strong performance. His voice had power here and I'd say this song by far was the highlight of the show. Augustana played all of the classic favorites (even though the current members of the band were not around then) and plenty of newer songs as well. It is a long setlist but the show just flies by. This was an excellent night and I'd recommend seeing Augustana to any fan of piano rock. Definitely a memorable show.
deanna.buttaro
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