My review of the Ben Rector/Andrew Belle show in Norman, OK Sunday night. Originally for OUDaily.com.
Oklahoma’s own Ben Rector brought the Sooner Theatre to its feet Sunday night with his unique brand of pop-meets-folk music.
Girls shouted “Marry me!” as he took to the stage, seating himself at the piano and opening the show with “Never Gonna Let You Go” from his new album, “Something Like This”.
Rector also played older tunes like “White Dress”, “The Beat” and “When a Heart Breaks” from his previous album “In the Morning”. Most of the audience gleefully chanted the lyrics to all of Rector’s songs, even those from his new album.
During “Loving You is Easy”, Rector asked the audience for suggestions and then proceeded to improvise a verse of the song entirely about elephants. This light-hearted tone persisted throughout the concert, especially when Rector took to the audience to conclude his set with “Let the Good Times Roll”.
Opening act Andrew Belle also contributed to this tone with his mellow and multi-faceted sound.
“I’m not a Texas Tech fan. My condolences,” Belle said regarding the Sooner loss on Saturday. “I’m a Georgia fan. We’ve got our own problems.”
Belle’s music was recently featured on the season finale of ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy”.
Both Rector and Belle put on a high-energy show, bringing the audience to their feet and resulting in a large crowd around the stage despite the fact that the show took place in a traditional theatre setting.
No one felt like sticking to their seats with Rector’s infectious personality and evident passion for music.