OneRepublic Brings Eclectic Set to Ravinia

The Colorado based band was fronted by Tedder and backed by Zach Filkins on lead guitar and viola, Drew Brown on backup guitar, Eddie Fisher on drums, and Brent Kutzle on cello and bass. The band played an eclectic mix of genres throughout the night ranging from rock to pop to soul to gospel to hip-hop to mariachi.

The set began with the band behind a white stage curtain, using lights to project their shadows onto the veil for a synthesizer heavy performance of their new single, If I Lose Myself.

Following the opener, the band made no haste getting to their hits, as Kutzle began playing the melodic cello hook of the bands’ top 40 single, Secrets.

After Secrets, the stage when dark while the video screen system behind the band came to life, briefly depicting a boys choir getting organized before singing virtual backup on All The Right Moves.

In a moment of full disclosure, over the dazzlingly colorful stage and light show setup, Tedder confided to the audience that they are touring to push a new album, titled Natives, but promised to play “the hits that you all want to hear.”

True to his words, after a performance What You Wanted (off the new album), Tedder picked up an acoustic guitar, and after a brief jam, delved into the melancholy opening chords of crowd-favorite Stop And Stare. Tedder sang, “Steady hands just take the wheel, every glance is killing me, time to make one last appeal for the life I lead.” He sang over the video screen showing passing clouds, with eyes occasionally appearing with an off-putting opacity within the clouds. Tedder faded out with an impressive falsetto vocal outro.

After the song, the evening picked up with Filkins taking a moment to show off with an extended flamenco style guitar solo, much to the enthusiasm of the crowd, into the mariachi sounding Counting Stars.

Succeeding a cinematic interlude (Steven Spielberg’s iconic E.T. flying bicycle scene) the evening soon took a more intimate feel as Tedder shed his leather jacket before hitting the piano for his Grammy-winning hit Apologize. He went on to surprise the crowd, playing Apologize but changing the lyrics into those of Rihanna’s We Found Love.

Carrying on with the intimacy, the band broke into a VH1 Storytellers-esque micro set, both playing and explaining the backstories behind Come Home, the story of Tedder’s friend shipped off to fight in Baghdad from his wife’s point of view, and Preacher, Tedder’s ode to his late preacher grandfather (“If you live to be 85, you deserve a song written about you”).

However, the band couldn’t stay chained down for too long, soon playing a hybrid version of Ray Charles’ classic gospel cover, I’ve Got A Woman, and Kanye Wests’ hit song that samples the Charles original, Gold Digger. In a change of pace, Tedder played piano, sang, and rapped the entire piece.

Tedder had made a promise to come out to the lawn, which he soon fulfilled when he leapt from the stage, through the pavilion aisles and out into open lawn to serenade fans with Feel Again. He soon returned to the stage to play the metaphor laden Life In Color (his microphone stand spontaneously turned neon red for the song) and Lose Myself, with the set ending in an epic confetti shower and a promise to return to Ravinia in the near future.

Fans raved about the performance on their walk from the festival.

“I had goosebumps the entire night!” said Michael Kolman of Highland Park about the show.

“It’s more about the venue than the performance for me,” said Matt Hill of Highland Park, “and Ravinia is easily the best place to be for a pop concert.”

“It totally exceeded all expectations,” said Hallie Becker of Buffalo Grove.

Tedder made good on at least one promise Tuesday night, so a return of One Republic’s passion and eclecticisms may be coming up in the future for Ravinia if Tedder can keep his second promise.

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