Power outages and snowy and icy conditions could not stop singer/songwriter Mat Kearney from putting on an incredible show in his home state.

Kearney performed at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Ore. on Feb. 22 as a part of his Crazy Talk tour, despite power outages at the venue and snowy conditions that threatened the show. He is originally from Eugene, Ore., which makes his show in Portland that much more special.

“I thought the show was really great,” Eleanor Williams, senior, said. “Everyone was having a lot of fun, especially Mat Kearney. You could tell he was really excited to be performing.”

Kearney performed some of his older, popular songs such as “Hey Mama,” “Closer to Love” and “Moving On.” He performed a few new songs, but it was obvious that the crowd favored the older songs.

“I was so excited that he was playing his older music,” Julie Rucker, senior, said. “I love it when artists play their old music along with their new music.”

Kearney ended his performance with “Coming Home (Oregon)” which was the fight song for the University of Oregon.

“My favorite part was when he sang ‘Coming Home,’” Arianna Chappell, senior, said. “Being a fan of the Oregon football team, it was fun to hear him perform the song live.”

This concert was incredibly fun and it was by far one of my favorite concerts that I have been to. Kearney is probably my favorite musician and he did not disappoint. Kearney sounded the same live as he does in his recorded songs, which is one of my favorite things in a concert. There is nothing worse than going to a concert and having the musician sound terrible.  

The performance and concert were great and I will definitely be going to another one of Kearney’s concert the next time he tours through the northwest.