Karmin brings high-energy concert to St. Thomas

Comedy hip-hop duo Karmin performed for 400 St. Thomas students Saturday night in a high-energy concert.

Performing its last concert of 2014 in the Woulfe Alumni Hall, Karmin played hits including “Acapella” and “Pulses” and featured a wide spectrum of genres from a ballad to rap. The duo – Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan – was discovered on YouTube three years ago, and both said college students are their favorite audience.

“College shows are actually our favorite because they are super high-energy,” Noonan said.

“It’s all love,” Heidemann added. “As the frontman of Karmin, I like the interaction with the audience the most.”

The duo encouraged audience participation by teaching parts of songs to accompany Heidemann.

Freshman Hannah Downs said her favorite part was singing along with Karmin during its encore performance of “Brokenhearted.”

“I liked when we called for the encore, and they came back,” Downs said. “Then we were singing it back to them. That was fun.”

Heidemann described the audience as the “angelic choirs of St. Thomas,” saying they were the best audience singers they’ve had. During the encore, Heidemann went off the stage and mingled in the crowd, taking selfies with fans.

Sophomore Mitch Dierich said the duo did a great job.

“It was a great break for finals – to take a break from studying and just have a good time,” Dierich said. “I got a hug from her. That was my favorite.”

Downs agreed that the interruption in studying was welcome.

“This could have been study time, but it was a good pump up too,” Downs said. “It was good to lift our spirits. Karmin is great. I love them; I’m really glad they came.”

The concert included Noonan playing trombone solos and Heidemann flirting with a public safety officer while using a voice-changing microphone. Noonan said he hopes students had fun and enjoyed themselves.

“We hope they think it is one of the best live shows they’ve ever seen,” Noonan said. “We want to have the best energy of any band they’ve ever seen.”

Simeon Lancaster can be reached at lanc4637@stthomas.edu.