By JOE BRUCH
Contributing Writer
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Students had the opportunity to add some extra excitement to their weekend this past Saturday with ‘Tegan and Sara’ performing live on Allegheny’s campus. The Canadian twins are an indie rock and new wave duo known for their hits ‘Closer’ and ‘Back In Your Head’.
The concert, held in Shafer Auditorium, was planned by Major Events Committee and Allegheny Student Government.
The two student organizations work together every year to host Homecoming and Springfest, but it is only once every other year that a major event like the ‘Tegan and Sara’ concert is planned.
The concert began at 8 p.m. with ‘Bear Hands,’ an alternative rock band that served as the opening act for the main event. The band was exceptional, but crowd members were ready for the talented twin sisters to take the stage by the end of the set. An assemblance of Allegheny students and fans from Meadville, Erie and other surrounding areas gathered in front of the stage while the rest of the crowd filled the seats. With the majority of the 1,000 tickets sold due to public sales, the venue was full.
Although a large number of students present were new to ‘Tegan and Sara,’ there were also those that had had been fans from an early age. For student Serena Audley, ’16, seeing them live was somewhat of a dream fulfilled.

“This was the first time I’ve seen them live, and I’ve wanted to see them since I was in middle school,” Audley said. “My favorite song they played was ‘Nineteen’, the acoustic with the spotlight on Tegan just halfway through the show, but when they played ‘How Come You Don’t Want Me’, I was very emotional, singing the lyrics and tearing up.”

The lighting effects for the show were beyond exceptional, with dramatic cues and a fog machine illuminating the performers. And the performers sang with clear voices and booming acoustics filled the auditorium.

Both sisters are known for their bantering to one another on stage along with telling stories, as was evident at the concert. At one point, due to incessant cheering, Sara joked to pull out a stool and finish the rest of the concert with stories in a heart-to-heart manner. The night also saw a few crowd surfers, though one fan in particular that evoked a shout out from the performers was a small child atop her parent’s shoulders most of the night.

“There was this little six-year old girl Sara called out at some point. She was so excited to be there. She knew every word and was just so happy to be there,” student KJ Sweet, ’15, stated.

Tegan and Sara’s professionalism was on display throughout the night, earning the respect of the audience.

“After seeing them live, I am now a huge fan. I was a fan before, but their energy live was just so mellow and chill, they seem like people I would want to go get tea with in GFC,” said student Sierra Flanagan, ’17.

The set was brought to a fist-pumping conclusion with ‘Closer’, but an encore performance was hailed and the twins performed one last ballad.

“The last song they played for the encore, Tegan messed it up like four times, but it was still great,” Sweet said. “It was actually the first song I ever heard of theirs. Even though it didn’t have the original banjo I still knew what it was by the first chord.”

As ‘Tegan and Sara’ finished their last number and graciously said goodbye to Allegheny, I found myself leaving the auditorium a newfound fan of a truly dynamic duo.