On Friday, August 10th, 2025, AJR played a stop on their Somewhere in the Sky tour at the Norwell at Jones Beach Amphitheater on Long Island, New York. Continuing their theme of extreme visuals, fans were blown away, blinded, and tricked (all of these literally) in the first few moments of the show.
Prior to coming on stage, the band had an unprecedented number of openers for the fans to enjoy. Although doors opened four hours prior to the band going on stage, their fans had little downtime in between each set.
First up, Madilyn Mei stole the stage with her whimsical sound. Playing songs like ‘What’s Going On? ‘, ‘Partner in Crime’, ‘Call Me The Bard’, and her latest release, ‘At Least I’d Be a Cowboy’, Madilyn created an intriguing vibe for the fans as they entered the theatre. As the first opener, her set only lasted 15 minutes. Yet, the fans that showed up early danced and cheered alongside her eccentric songs.
Though her set captured the heart of many fans, gearing them up for her upcoming headlining tour, her reach was inhibited due to the number of openers for this tour. Many fans — seeing the 4 hours of openers — elected to show up later in the evening, leaving the amphitheater mostly empty for her songs. Although a sparse crowd limited her impact, Madilyn’s quirky energy still won over early arrivals with her playful style echoing AJR’s offbeat charm.
Closely following Madilyn Mei comes one of the most anticipated fan favorites of the tour, Valley. The band hailing from Toronto, Canada carried a fun indie pop vibe into the venue, immediately capturing the attention of the fans unfamiliar with their music. Lead singer, Rob Laska bounced around the stage, interacting with each of the other band members as well as the crowd. Songs like ‘Bop Ba’, ‘Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden’, and a cover of the MGMT song ‘Kids’, had the crowd screaming the lyrics as they walked to their seats.
Continuing the energy brought by the previous acts, Goth Babe immediately blasted the crowd with bass that did not stop for their entire set. Lead singer, Griff Washburn introduced his band with music that made everyone unsure if they were in the middle of the woods, at a rave, or both, in the absolute best way possible. He opened the show with fan favorite ‘Moments/Tides’ that instantly gathered the interest of the crowd. Throughout the show, he continued keeping fans entertained in various ways, one of which was by tossing a box of cheez-its into the crowd after a brutal dance competition. Finishing out his set, they played another fan favorite, ‘Weekend Friend’. Though Goth Babe went in as an unknown opener, many AJR fans came out listening to their discography instead.
As the final opener, Chelsea Cutler played her first show of the tour. With a much different tone from the rest of the openers, Chelsea played slower, more emotional songs from her discography. Songs like ‘Crazier Things’, ‘Sad Tonight’, ‘You Were Good To Me’, and a cover of The Killers’ ‘Mr. Brightside’ left fans wanting more. The overall composition of her set, as well as her incredible vocals set her apart from the other openers. Though slower than anticipated, she warmed up the crowd for AJR.
Finally, AJR took the stage for the night. But not before they pulled their usual tricks for a huge introduction. They opened their show with insane GCI visuals introducing the name of the tour, then promptly cutting to a blank screen, ‘typing’ from back stage. They revealed that they used all their entire budget for the cool introduction and couldn’t afford anything else, so they’d have to do an acoustic set instead (this was a lie). Shortly following their message, they break onto the stage to the tune of ‘Way Less Sad’.
The first half of their set consisted of mostly fan favorites, such as ‘Karma’, ‘The Good Part’, ‘Burn the House Down’, and ‘Bang!’. They effortlessly weaved in their newest release, ‘Betty’, while trippy scenery flashed on the screen behind them. They broke into a usual part of their set, the ‘Making Of’ one of their popular songs. This tour, they opted for the making of ‘100 Bad Days’ from their Neotheater album. The main take away from this portion was that they made the entire song ‘backwards’, leaving fans unsure of the song until the melody was flipped backwards and the familiar tune blasted through the speakers.
Shortly following this set, the band removed their in-ear monitors and tuned to their usual crowd participation portion of the show. During this set, they like to connect with the crowd by pointing out signs, taking on challenges, and teasing those close to the stage for various actions taken during the previous few songs. This set featured a fan challenge to a wheelbarrow race. The fans requested a duplicate of Jack’s infamous trapper hat as a reward for what would become an embarrassing loss to the band, with the two fans sailing far ahead of the brothers to the finish line.
Following a few more songs, the band appeared in the seats for another crowd portion of the show, playing the normal ‘World’s Smallest Violin’ from the seats. This part of the set started during The Maybe Man’Tour last year and was such a fan favorite that they decided to continue this set during the ‘Somewhere In The Sky’ Tour. As the first shocking part of the set, the brothers played ‘Wow, I’m Not Crazy’, a song that had not been played since their Neotheater tour in 2020.
They continued these throwbacks from the stage with the addition of a special guest, their other brother, Adam. Though a usual part of the band, Adam had taken a step away from the band to pursue other passions, releasing his ‘Amplify’ book earlier this year. He reappeared for select shows on this tour, joining the band for ‘Don’t Throw Out My Legos’, as well as a medley of older songs that they hadn’t played in a while. This medley played parts of ‘Come Hang Out’, ‘I’m Not Famous’, ‘I’m Ready’, ‘Break My Face’, and ‘Finale’, leaving fans in tears at what felt like the close of the show.
But leave it to the brothers to give their fans whiplash during a show, going into the upbeat ‘Steve’s Going to London’ after a short darkness. Finally, they finished up their set with ‘Sober Up’, one of their most popular hits. The stage went dark and fans immediately chanted for more, knowing that the band never leaves without an encore. The band shuffled back on stage to play through ‘Weak’, another popular hit before running off stage to ‘type’ on the blank screen again. Here, they revealed that they didn’t have a big finale for the show (which is very typical of their shows, often mimicking a huge theatrical ending). They told fans, through the screen, that they couldn’t do all of their ideas of logistical reasons, listing out things like Jack, the lead singer, flying through the sky over the crowd, or a large marching band coming out to play the final song. They introduced the finale with the words, “Fuck it, let’s do number 2.”
The cameras cut to the crowd, where part of local, Uniondale High School marching band appeared in the crowd with their instruments, continuing the familiar melody of ‘Weak’. When the beat dropped, the rest of the marching band, alongside Jack and Ryan, appeared on stage in band uniforms, marching around to an upbeat instrumental melody of their popular songs.
While the visuals were scaled down compared to The Maybe Man Tour, AJR more than made up for it with surprises, deep cuts, and emotional throwbacks. For longtime fans, it was a walk down memory lane. For new ones—especially the younger crowd—it was a first-time glimpse at the band’s evolution. With their upcoming EP What No One’s Thinking (out August 29), AJR is showing no signs of slowing down.
