As music teacher Jeremy  Wuertz herded the audience in to the PAC, the excitement of the Tolan Shaw concert suddenly grew even more noticeable Friday.  The successful fundraiser for the music program was much more than just a “money-maker.”

The students, teachers, and community members that attended spent a grooving and moving two hours Friday night as an awesome spring-break kick-off concert.  Freshman Cordelia Degher opened for the group, performing a selection of beautiful original songs and covers, including her original “Crumbling Tower” that won her third  place in the SDA Talent Show in March.  Her sister, Cleopatra Degher, who is also a growing and talented musician and songwriter, joined her on stage for a few songs.

“It was amazing.  I was really nervous before but once I got on stage it was all good and really fun,” said Degher after the show.

After about 45 minutes, Tolan Shaw, an SDA graduate, and his band made their entrance, and the crowd went wild as they kicked it off with “Waiting,” one of their older original songs.  Shaw and his band started off with some older tunes from their previous record, followed by a beautiful acoustic set performed by Shaw himself.

He then introduced his band members and jumped right back into the fun as they showcased the new releases off of their extended playlist out selling now.  Shaw even got the audience into the action.  Towards the end of the show, he had the audience use kazoos they received when they entered the theatre.  The audience “kazooed” to the tune as the crowd went wild with the original “Good Day.”

As the show came to an end, the audience gave  Shaw a standing ovation and after about 30 seconds offstage, the band  came back for the desired encore.

”I think it was a smashing success.  All the loyal supporters and a lot of new faces came out and it was really cool to be on the SDA campus because I graduated in 2007,” said Shaw after the show.  “It was really fun.”

The music, the crowd, and the band filled the PAC with energy and soul, starting one fun Spring Break off right.  “I thought that Tolan was an amazing performer and not only that but his band killed it,” said senior Jaycelin Bert, who attended the show.  “His songs were amazing and all of his lyrics were really soulful.”