“We gon’ burn the whole house down” - AJR 

And burn the house down they did! On August 2nd, AJR blew the roof off of Capital One Arena on the penultimate night of The Maybe Man Tour. Brothers Adam, Jack and Ryan Met returned to the nation’s capital to celebrate the release of their 2023 album, The Maybe Man, and in true AJR fashion, it was a spectacle to behold. 

Regardless of how much you know about AJR, you’ve likely heard the band’s music if you’ve ever been on the internet. Their songs “The Good Part” and “World’s Smallest Violin” have seen multiple trending cycles on TikTok and Instagram, with multiple other songs backing thousands of videos, leaving listeners with memories of melodies and lyrics they may never have sought out on their own. But, for loyal fans (many of whom flocked to DC after seeing the band in Maryland earlier in the tour) these quick, catchy sound bites mean so much more. 

The electro-indie pop band AJR has been making music together since 2005, releasing their first official EP in 2010. In the past two decades, the band has come into their own, defining their one-of-a-kind sound and finding ‘their people’ despite the self-proclaimed unconventionality of their musical practice. At their show in Washington DC, the band’s singer, Jack, spoke to this sentiment acknowledging the setbacks the trio has faced finding the right audience for their music after being met with rejection early in their career (which continues in various spaces to this day). But here, to a room full of 20,000 people, it was clear that the music had found its audience as every lyric reverberated through the stadium full of eager fans.  

Being known as a ‘DIY’ band, something at the core of AJR’s sound is that they write, mix, and produce all of their music themselves. Making unique choices when it comes to instrumentation, layering, and composition, AJR songs are like works of art that stimulate the brain in ways many conventional pop songs overlook. But, maybe more than anything, what sets the band apart from other contemporary musicians is their current approach to live performance. Beyond each band member’s captivating energy and stage presence, The Maybe Man Tour presents production value that is unmatched by anyone else touring today. For those in attendance, this show was more than a concert - it was an entire experience.

As the show opened with over 10 ‘Jacks’ on stage (one of which was suspended in midair!) to create the illusion of teleportation, the crowd at Capital One knew they were in for a wild ride. Throughout the set, the band’s use of intricate projection, large-scale set pieces, and immaculate lighting was only matched by their own personal ingenuity and performance. Truly, there is no justice being done to this set without experiencing it in-person and for the sake of preserving their artistry, we can’t give away too many spoilers, but… Whether it was Jack playing the drums with his shadow, a song sang while plummeting through the sky, or the entire team playing a set from the crowd in the upper bowl, the intentionality and creativity behind every choice that went into this tour really shines

On top of the production that is this tour, it can’t go unrecognized that as musicians and performers, Adam, Jack and Ryan are so incredibly personable and emphatic. The entire set had an energy that was infectious and seeing Jack, particularly, command the stage with a bodily presence that was so free was liberating to watch. I, like many individuals in the audience, left the show feeling that much lighter and more hopeful for the future thanks to the positive and comforting space that the band has created through their music. 

While The Maybe Man Tour may have come to a close, there is no question that AJR’s artistry lives on. There is no one today doing it quite like them and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for the future.