Music Brings Us Together in this Great Big World

Say everything you’ve always wanted

Be not afraid of who you really are

‘Cause in the end we have each other

And that’s at least one thing worth living for

Those are lyrics from the song “This Is A New Year” by the band A Great Big World. Lyrics that echoed through all parts of DC9 on Saturday night as Ian Axel of A Great Big World performed to an adoring and enthusiastic crowd.

It’s the first time Axel has toured as A Great Big World without Chad King (the other half of the group). King is battling multiple sclerosis and is unable to join the tour. Since King carried around half the singing, Axel had to make adjustments to many of the songs. King’s presence though was certainly felt throughout the set as he’s co-writer and arranger for many of the songs. And while it was very sad not to have Chad there. The evening was still magical.

Early on, it was clear that Axel found the right mix of his early work and the more recent stuff from A Great Big World. “Younger” is a fantastic song that encapsulates the feeling of nostalgia for the seemingly-endless days of adolescence. He followed it up with “Leave Me Alone” from his solo album and then a crowd-pleasing sing-along version of “This Is The New Year”. A song that always makes me smile and brings a sense of hope.

Accompanying Axel were Chris Cuberta on guitar and Kristine Kruta on cell. Both added some fantastic backing vocals and inspired instrumentation.

Most concerts have the band throw some cover songs in and A Great Big World delivered with two interesting and magical choices. The first was the hilariously catchy “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus. It was an amazing crowd pleaser. The other cover was Steve Winwood’s “Back in the High Life Again” which brought a nice sense of nostalgia to a number of us in the crowd.

Of course, Axel had to play their, arguably, two biggest songs - “Say Something” and “Fall on Me”. Both songs feature Christina Aguilera on the recording and while Axel dutifully took on all the vocals for “Say Something”, opener Hannah Winkler added her gorgeous vocals for “Fall on Me” - a real highlight of the night. Her voice blended so well with Axel’s voice.

My favorite however is the song “Already Home”. Axel had it recorded, simply titled “Home” for his solo album and it was later rerecorded as “Already Home” by Ian and Chad for their album Is There Anybody Out There?. The song means a lot to me as it was one I used to sing to my daughter when she was young, before I would go on a work trip. And while the song is clearly more about a long-distance relationship, it always brought comfort to Abby, that I would always come home, even if where I was going was “so far away” and I promised “the city won’t get in our way”.

I left the show feeling uplifted and hopeful for…something. Because music, and specifically music from A Great Big World, moves me and heals me and will always have a special place in my heart and my soul.