Trendfest
June 15, 2016
The Giant Center- Hershey, PA
Trendfest has taken over The Giant Center once again bringing artists such as Charlie Puth, Troye Sivan, Daya and several other performers to the stage for a great night of great music.
Up first was upcoming artist, Shawn Hook. Hook took the stage and sat behind his piano and started with his current single Sound Of Your Heart. Also, his piano playing skills were beautiful, definitely adding to his songs very well.
Next was Daya, and boy did she have some great vocals. The singer brought a very energy packed set to the stage. Daya sang songs such as her recent single, Hide Away as well as the current hit on the Top 25 on iTunes, Don’t Let Me Down which she collaborated with The Chainsmokers; this song got the most screams and cheers from the crowd.
Third act who you may know from the band The Wanted, Mr Nathan Sykes. He seemed to be a bit more soulful than the previous acts who had an upbeat tempo. Sykes played some of his most popular singles such as Kiss Me Quick and a very odd cover of Stitches originally by Shawn Mendes. Not to be negative but the original version is much more preferred than a stripped down version of this song. Other than the cover slowing the night’s energy down way to much, the vocals on Sykes were absolutely amazing.
Up next was Melanie Martinez and although I never really heard of her before, she seemed a bit strange, but that didn’t stop her fans from going crazy as she took the stage. Martinez’s style is kind of gives off a “baby” vibe, being that her setup had giant kiddie blocks that spelt out “Cry Baby” behind her. She sang a handful of her most popular singles such as Cry Baby, Dollhouse and Pity Party.
Due next was one of my absolute favorite artists on the whole line up, all the way from Australia, Troye Sivan. Sivan sang his most popular singles such as Youth and Fools which seemed to get everyone off their feet. Not only did he grace the entire arena with his beautiful vocals he addressed the many tragedies that have occurred within the last couple weeks, speaking out about the Orlando shootings and also speaking out about himself being apart of the LGBT community. He had rainbow lights thrown on the audience as he performed Heavan in honor of those lost. Sivan has a fall tour coming up that he just announced and he is a must see, beautiful vocals and he puts on a fantastic show.
Finally, the act most of the screeching teenage girls were waiting patiently for was about to take the stage. Up until Charlie Puth was called out on stage before he actually began his set to own up to his end of a bet he made with Mike Miller from 99.3 Kiss FM Harrisburg. The bet had to do with something along the lines about ticket sales. If you lost the dare you got pied in the face. Turns out they both were wrong and Mike pied Charlie and vice versa. After Puth got his face somewhat cleaned up he automatically took the stage opening up with Marvin Gaye. Midway through the set Puth paid his respects to the ones we lost in Orlando by playing See You Again, which was a very moving gesture as he displayed the names of the ones we lost as he played that song in their honor. Charlie Puth is an overall fantastic musician and definitely knows hot to tickle those ivories (the piano keys)
Overall #Trendfest was a success and despite the very different styles of music that each musician displayed it somehow worked perfectly.
Review by: Alyssa Howell
Charlie Puth
Troy Sivan
Melanie Martinez
Nathan Sykes
Daya
Shawn Hook