Jack's Mannequin lead singer Andrew McMahon may have found a home at Rec Hall last night, and he even brought his own toys.
Arranged atop the stage equipment was an assortment of action figures from Mr. Potato Head to Gumby.
"I just want to live in this gymnasium," McMahon said to the crowd.
Playing to a nearly packed house, McMahon jammed the piano keys as he bounced up and down off his seat throughout the night. With an intimate setting in Rec Hall, many fans chanted the lyrics to most of his songs.
Bryan Focht (sophomore-engineering) said that compared to the other performances he's seen, McMahon seemed to be enjoying himself.
"He's really into it tonight," Focht said.
Toward the end of the group's performance, McMahon stepped onto the piano keys and jumped on his piano to grab the crowd's attention.
"When Andrew jumped on the piano, it defined my life," David Clark (junior-finance) said.
The number of people attending the show fueled McMahon's energy. SPA entertainment director Claire DiGiacomo said the organization wasn't expecting the amount of people in attendance, and neither was McMahon.
He told the crowd that, in a way, last night's performance was kind of like a night off for him and that he didn't expect that many people to be rocking out at a college show.
The crowd mimicked the band's mellow sound, singing along but never getting too wild. Overall, the performance put on by Jack's Mannequin was great, but the crowd was disappointing, Kristi Hackman(senior-behavioral health) said.
It was Stacey Hopkins'(sophomore-nursing) fourth time seeing the band, and she said it was probably one of the best performance's she seen so far. She also mentioned the concert setup at Rec Hall.
"There's really no bad seats," Hopkins said.
Students were divided on the choice of Rec Hall for a concert venue. Jennifer Lapp (freshman-engineering) said she liked the show, but she wished the floor seating didn't force students to stay in their seats.
It was a lot more intimate than the BJC, Natalie Simunek (senior-management information systems) said. Jacks Mannequin is Simunek's favorite band, and it was her fifth time seeing the group, she said. She had floor tickets but said she would have liked to be able to get out of her seat.
"This seating is a little awkward," Simunek said.
Megan Duffy (junior-hospitality management) said the venue wasn't what she expected it to be, but she liked it and loved the group's performance.
McMahon told students that he hopes to come back again soon.
