Fun. brings its own brand of fun, but Tegan and Sara aren’t just kid stuff at the Greek Theatre

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Fun. -17

By Karly Daquila

An incredibly diverse crowd filled the the Greek Theater on Tuesday night for Grammy-winning pop trio Fun. and their opener, Tegan and Sara. However, it’s safe to say that Tegan and Sara drew almost as large of a crowd as the headliners.

Tegan and Sara Quin have been creating haunting yet innocent indie rock songs since 1999. Opening with one of their newer songs, the Canadian twin sisters belted out “Drove Me Wild” from their latest album, “Heartthrob.” The sounds and stories behind each song on “Heartthrob” are fresh and cut deeper live than imagined. Harmonizing through “Goodbye, Goodbye,” “I Couldn’t Be Your Friend” and “How Come You Don’t Want Me” (a song co-written with Jack Antonoff of the headlining band), Tegan and Sara made their melancholy melodies a little less morose.

The sisterly duo turned out heavy-handed beats to “Now I’m All Messed Up” and “Shock To Your System.” The eerie vocals were accompanied by beautiful cinematography projected onto screens behind the duo and their four-man band. Sara dedicated the next song in the set, “Back In Your Head,” to the back of her sister’s angular haircut (she was having a really good hair day).

Throwbacks such as 2007’s “The Con” and 2004’s “Where Does The Good Go” were highlights for the audience, making everybody feel “Nineteen” again. Tegan and Sara ended their set with one of their newer dance hits, “Closer,” getting everyone in the audience out of their seats and dancing to the bouncing rhythms.

Starting their set off on a more dramatic note, fun. – who announced they’d just moved to L.A. from Phoenix – appeared onstage dressed in dinner jackets and began to sing the simple and stoic “Some Nights (Intro).” The crowd for fun. appeared as if were out past their bedtime, but parents accompanying their preteens were enjoying the trio just as much as their kids.

Quickly thereafter, Andrew Dost took to the trumpet to accompany Nate Reuss’ consistently strong vocals on “One Foot.” A few tracks from their 2009 debut album, “At Least I’m Not Sad” – “All The Pretty Girls” and “Barlights” – brought the audience to their feet (with the help of a confetti cannon or two).

But according to Reuss, the audience enthusiasm was lacking and he decided they needed to “pick it up.” Tossing out the occasional F-bomb, fun. carried on with “It Gets Better” and “Carry On,” with Antonoff’s guitar breaking. During the lull, Dost took a moment to reminisce on what he ate for lunch, then after crumbling to pressure from Ruess and Antonoff, began stomping on his piano.

At one point during the conversation, an audience member tossed a phone onstage. Reuss’ responded to cell phone situation with, “Why don’t you have an iPhone?”

Ruess strained during the band’s cover of the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” but the night ended on a high note when fun. closed with their hit “We Are Young.” The entire audience rose to their feet and sung along as if it was an inspirational anthem for Generations Y and Z.