Concert Review: Aly & AJ

All photos by Jenn Noga

With the perfect mix of rock hits and casual indie vibes, Aly and AJ put on a show I’ll never forget.

So a little context for the concert.

Originally I had planned on only taking photos and not writing this review, but my writing partner had to bail so here I was left with this golden opportunity. I had a ticket that was going to go to waste and I really did not want to go to House of Blues alone.

And then it dawned on me.

My childhood best friend and I had first really bonded over Disney Channel in 2005 and the fact that I was able to take her to see a band we had admired for so long was just the tip of the iceberg of this incredible show.

Somehow we found ourselves pressed up against the barricade after I was done in the photo pit, and let me tell you the sheer energy I felt from the crowd was insane.

This show felt more intimate than other shows I’ve been to at House of Blues, with the technicolor lights surrounding the sisters and the lighter, airier songs off of their latest album/EP,  and yet at the same time, it wasn’t.

Opening the night with my favorite song off the Sanctuary EP, “Church”, the crowd was singing along, even some concert-goers who only came for the nostalgia-fest were dancing around and vibing hard.

That all changed when they started to play their earlier stuff.

The casual intimate vibe the sisters had expertly produced went out the window.

The lights started to flash, the guitars got heavier, the crowd somehow singing louder than before (my earplugs did very little) and the fact that I was so close to the stage that my arm hair was vibrating the whole time, this could have been a sold-out stadium with the amount of passion and energy there was.

Aly and AJ were able to navigate the feel of the crowd, bringing us to the highest of highs and then back down to rest.

It was electric. It felt like I had been transported back to grade school and I’m dancing around in my socks, singing into my hairbrush about how I’m over a man who has done me dirty.

As if I as an eight-year-old, knew anything about it.

What I thought was the most stand out moment happened towards the end of the show. They encouraged us to use our cellphones to sign a petition from the Trevor Project to help stop conversion therapy and donating and by doing so we were entered to get the opportunity to go backstage after the show to meet them. I didn’t win but I had never been to a concert before where that happened.

Closing the night with their 2007 hit, “Potential Breakup Song” Aly and AJ had the crowd jumping and screaming the lyrics. After the show had ended somehow I wanted more, yet I felt it was perfect.

Truly these sisters are expert songwriters, musicians, and performers. While you may think that nothing will ever top the songs that propelled Aly and AJ to the top, that’s not where they’re trying to be.

Aly and AJ will continue to make songs and perform for those who want to listen, and I for one cannot wait to see them in action again.

You can catch Aly and AJ on the rest of the Sanctuary Tour by visiting their website alyandaj.com