On Saturday, Mar. 14, four diverse acts with an obvious love of performing took the stage at The Fillmore Silver Spring, giving their audience an night filled with sing-alongs, dancing and original music.

“The concert experience was awesome, I loved the music and it was fun being with my friends,” said junior Danielle Sklarew, who won two free tickets to the concert through The Pitch Online’s contest.

The opening performer was Rachel Platten, an artist with Columbia Records.  The singer-songwriter was only given a three-song set, but she still managed to blow the crowd away. Platten sang her original songs while effortlessly playing the keyboard at the same time. Her vocals were superb, and she drew in the crowd with her sweet persona and passionate delivery. Her rendition of her single “Fight Song” was uplifting and powerful.

The next act to grace the stage was the alternative band Paradise Fears. The band also had a short set, but nevertheless managed to get the crowd pumped for more. Lead singer Sam Miller did an excellent job getting the audience to sing along to the band’s original songs by leaning as close to the crowd as he could, holding out his mike and dancing to the music. All of the band members were clearly having the time of their lives on stage, grinning at each other and playing their instruments with vigor.  The highlight of their set was when the band picked an audience member named Stacy to sing into the mike, and then auto-tuned her voice and played it during their song.

“The X Factor” Season 3 winners Alex & Sierra blew the crowd away as the first of the co-headliners of the night to perform. The lovebirds sang original songs from their album “It’s About Us”, while Alex Kinsey played guitar and a member of their band accompanied the them on the keyboard.  The entire set was acoustic, and allowed the pair to show off their exceptional vocals.   The crowd irrupted into cheers when the duo sang their cover of Britney Spear’s 2003 single”Toxic”, which they performed during their time on “The X Factor,” which airs on FOX. 

Junior Zoe Sadugor came to the concert as Sklarew’s guest, and said she had an amazing time. 

“Alex [&] Sierra had great [on-stage] chemistry and their voices were even better in person,” said Sadugor.

Last but not least, co-headliner hit-maker Andy Grammer closed out the show on a high note.  The singer delivered a high-energy performance that the crowd clearly loved, as everyone was singing and dancing along.

Sklarew said that Grammer’s act was her favorite of the four.

Grammer performed hits from old albums as well as songs from his newest LP, “Magazines or Novels.” Highlights included a cover of Jason Derulo’s “Trumpets,” during which he brought his opening acts on to dance with him, and a rousing rendition of his latest hit single “Honey I’m Good.”

“[My favorite song performed was] “Forever” because he did some cute moves during it and involved the crowd,” said Sadugor.

Grammar introduced the tune by explaining he wrote the song about a girl who took way too long to get dressed for their dates.  He made the crowd laugh and encouraged them to sing along.

Grammer owned the stage and proved why he was the main act of the night.  However, each act put on a strong performance, making for an excellent night of music.