To say that AU was excited for former "One Tree Hill" actress-turned-country-star Jana Kramer would be just wrong.
The 50 or so cowboy boots and flannel clad attendees failed to even come close to filling up Tavern on the night of March 30.
To her credit, Kramer put her best foot forward and, after taking off her shoes and throwing them to the side of the stage, danced up and down the stage and valiantly attempted to bring some energy to the show.
Bringing country and all its chicken fried goodness to D.C. during her hour-and-10-minute, 15-song set Jana Kramer joked with the small crowd and jammed out with her band. Leading off with a quick three-song run of energetic numbers "King of Apology," "Good Time Comin' On" and "One of the Boys," Kramer set an upbeat tone for the evening.
She may be marketed like the next Miranda Lambert, but backed by three guitarists, bass and drums, Kramer is far from Lambert's slow country ballads. The slowest she got during the evening was a mid-set cover of the Oasis classic "Wonderwall." By far the biggest sing-a-long of the night, Noel Gallagher might not be pleased with Kramer covering the '90s classic, but the country faction of AU could not have been more into it.
Kramer played several new songs she has penned for her upcoming, still untitled sophomore album, such as "Kiss My Heart" and encore "Walk All Over You." These proved to be crowd favorites, with Kramer asking what the crowd thought of the new songs and receiving a chorus of cheers and applause in response.
"I'll let my producer know that American University thinks they should be on the next album. And that's what really matters, what American University thinks," Kramer said with a laugh.
Although the speeches before her songs about exes and relationships seemed well planned, Kramer and her personality shone when she deviated from her script when she sang "Happy Birthday" to a girl in the audience or when she described "Goodbye California" as her "climax song" and failed to start the song because she was laughing too much.
With less than 2 percent of the undergraduate student body in attendance, Kramer might have been more successful with a more intimate venue. An acoustic set in the Perch, or Wechsler Theater perhaps, would have highlighted her lyrics and vocals much better than the empty and echoing tavern.
By far the most impressive moment of the night was her ode to exes "When You're Lonely." Although the interpolation of U2's "With Or Without You" in the outro was lost on the majority of the crowd, the musical intelligence and ingenuity to include it is undeniable.
This is Kramer's seemingly largest challenge: She has been forced into the mold of the pop country girl where it is near impossible for people to take her seriously and any potential talent is unappreciated.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
