By: Haley Justino
Journey with me now, back a full decade to the distant past of 2008. The jeans were tighter, the eyeliner was heavy, and Colorado natives, Sean Foreman and Nat Motte had just released their second, breakout album, “Want.” Their most successful hit, “Don’t Trust Me,” reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, and had middle school students all over the country, including myself, shouting about vegetarianism and Hellen Keller at the top of their lungs.
Ten years later, and while you might not hear much from the electro-pop duo anymore, they can certainly still get everyone at a sold out Aggie show jumping and partying to the nostalgic jams of the past. “Want” was played in its entirety, featuring crowd favorites such as the aforementioned, “Don’t Trust Me,” along with, “Chokechain” “I’m Not Your Boyfriend Baby” “Starstrukk,” and ending their main set with, “Colorado Sunrise.”
Colorado pride was a big part of the show, with the guys reminiscing about their many misadventures here in Fort Collins when they would visit during their time as student at CU. There was a brief moment of tension between the audience, who were chanting a well known Fort Collins mantra about our rival school, and Motte who began to sing the CU fight song in response. Foreman, however, was able to unite the venue by reminding the audience, “regardless of what school you go to, we are all here in Colorado.” There were multiple times throughout the show when the group’s iconic hand sign was thrown into the air by the entire audience. I also saw a remarkable amount of people supporting the group by wearing older band t-shirts that were mostly likely purchased at a Warped Tour or Hot Topic many years ago.
Was my enjoyment of the band’s performance driven mostly by nostalgia? Absolutely. Listening to the songs objectively now as an adult, many of the overtly sexual lyrics are ridiculously comical at best. Similarly, the band’s style of music is certainly a product of its time, as the “crunkcore” genre has mercifully faded from popularity since leaving the early 2000’s. But while the landscape of music may have matured, and the millennials who grew up with 3Oh!3 may like to think they have matured too, there’s just something so intrinsically joyful about singing along to the inappropriate, embarrassing songs of your youth with a venue packed full of people who are screaming just as loud as you.
