THON is back and better than ever! This year, “WALK THE MOON” performed as THON’s headlining national Friday night performance. They are a band of American pop rock musicians from Cincinnati, Ohio, and are hit singers of songs, “One Foot” and “Shut Up and Dance.”
The band is made up of lead singer Nicholas Petricca, drummer Sean Waugaman and guitarist Eli Maiman. Their group has been in the music industry for over 17 years, and they have become exceptional at their craft.
In 2023, Natasha Bedingfield put on a show at THON performing some of her greatest hits, but this year “WALK THE MOON” brought THON to the next level.
This weekend, they took the crowd by surprise, and put on an amazing performance that made people dance and sing all night long.
Performance Highlights
“WALK THE MOON” played a variety of songs, including a cover of Bill Withers’s “Lean on Me” as their opener. This felt very fitting for the theme of THON and had the audience swaying from side to side.
Another big hit of the night was “One Foot” a song that came out in 2017. It is about coming together to make a difference and accomplish change.
Finally, the most popular song of their set was the one and only, “Shut Up and Dance.” This iconic melody pumped up the crowd with the most energy of the night so far and had people jumping for joy while screaming their heads off.
What a wild performance that “WALK THE MOON” blessed us with. Let us take a look at what members of the audience had to say about the groundbreaking show.
Audience Reactions
Sarah Torres said that she relatively familiar with the band, and thoroughly enjoyed the song, “Shut Up and Dance.” Torres, a first-year student, said “I was really excited because my dad always played that for me when I was little.”
Isabella Balaras also points out that the energy and dancing from the performance got everyone in the crowd excited since some of the songs were so well-known.
Tommy Tiver agreed saying, “The atmosphere was awesome the entire show, and I would totally watch it again,” said the second-year student.
Jack Conway states that he had listened to a lot of the band’s music before, saying that Tiver got him into the group initially.
Greg Reynolds adds that he thought the show was good, but could have been slightly shorter. “I definitely would have liked probably kept it to a minimum like four or five songs,” second-year student Reynolds remarked.
He mentioned THON people wanted to switch the vibe up to a fast pace, but otherwise it was a great performance.
Overall, this Friday night performance did not disappoint. “WALK THE MOON” hyped up the crowd, made people jam to their songs and left everyone with an experience that they will never forget.
THON Weekend has only just begun, and there are so many surprises in store that have still yet to come.