3 Reasons You Should See Aqua Live

When I walked into Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City this past Saturday to see Aqua I honestly didn’t know what to expect other than hearing one of the greatest earworms of all-time – “Barbie Girl.”

I knew a few other songs by the Danish trio – “My Oh My,” and “Lollipop (Candyman)” being the main ones – and with those upbeat pop tunes in mind I figured the show would be, at the very least, a fun time.

The plan was to ride the vibe, and see where it would take me, knowing that, obviously, at some point during the show, it would take me to a Barbie world.

For a band to have a legendary hit like “Barbie Girl” is impressive – the video currently has 1.3 BILLION views on YouTube – but it’s another thing entirely to be able to move a crowd for nearly 90 minutes, and that’s exactly what Aqua did at Hammerstein Ballroom.

On a stage set up with a giant pink boombox, and a huge screen that displayed their music videos as they performed, Aqua put on a heck of a show.

Throughout the night I thought it was ridiculously impressive that performing live they managed to match the timing of the music videos perfectly.

They weren’t just entertaining, however, they legitimately sounded great.

With that in mind, here are three reasons you should see Aqua live.

They have a surprisingly deep catalogue 

While American audiences may view Aqua as a one hit wonder, the band recorded three full length albums, and had a number of hits overseas. In fact, with an estimated 33 million in combined sales of their albums and singles, they’re the most profitable Danish band in history.

Seeing Aqua live introduced me to a plethora of songs I hadn’t heard before (but their audience clearly had based on the number of folks who were singing along. More on them in a bit). These songs included slower fare, ballads, and one of my new favorites, the fantastic “Playmate To Jesus,” which shows off more of Lene Nystrøm's range, both vocally, and emotionally.

Why these songs were never released in the U.S. is a mystery (probably a record label not knowing what it had).

They tour with a full band 

If you only know “Barbie Girl” it might be easy to think Aqua’s sound is just slickly produced pop music, but the trio tour with a full band, and it makes a huge difference.

With a guitar player, bassist, drummer, two silver clad backup singers, and Søren Rasted on keys (at least I think he had a keyboard behind that giant pink boombox!), this isn’t simply an exercise of push play, and sing over a track. Instead there’s a much fuller sound that can only come from a live band, and this breathes extra life into everything.

Having a band also adds people on stage for René Dif, and Lene to interact with, and the stage is filled, rather than looking sparse.

It’s really all about the sound, though, and very early on in Aqua’s set I commented, “Damn, they sound GREAT!”

Their crowd is amazing 

As I mentioned earlier, the Aqua crowd really knows the band’s catalogue. From the first song, to the finale, everyone was singing along, dancing, and filled with enthusiasm.

Visually, the crowd was also wild. There were women whose outfits could’ve competed with any disco ball in terms of shine, two guys in matching highlighter bright track suits and LED glasses, and even someone who looked like Post Malone dressed in all-pink cowboy gear.

When a crowd is having that much fun, and is that excited about a band, it’s contagious, so even if you only know “Barbie Girl,” you’d be hard pressed not to have a good time at an Aqua show.

In addition to having a good time, you’ll also probably leave with a new respect for the trio, and a few extra songs stuck in your head.

For more Aqua, and to see when they’ll be coming to your area, check out aquaofficial.com.