Eco-friendly musician AY Young lit up O’Neill Plaza with a concert entirely powered by renewable energy Wednesday at 5 p.m.
“Everyone is an outlet for change,” Young said to an excited crowd.
Young, who said he is focused on creating sustainability in the music industry, is one of the United Nations’ 17 appointed Young Leaders of the Sustainable Development Goals. He started his own music tour called Battery Tour, which helps promote sustainability and access to electricity for all.
Young’s energy while performing was infectious enough to draw in students who were walking home from class. The sound of Young singing along to popular songs, including Justin Timberlake’s “CAN’T STOP THE FEELING!,” brought smiles to the faces of students passing by and encouraged many to stop by to listen. Young went around the crowd greeting the students that stopped by and came into the crowd to dance with the audience members. The energy he brought to the performance was contagious even if he was just singing and dancing along to “Cha-Cha Slide” at one point.
Young played mostly popular songs like Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” to get the crowd going. He spent a lot of the show asking audience members for song recommendations, The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” being one such recommendation. He played these popular songs for the majority of the show, but Young did play some of his own musical work toward the end. His bubbly and light track “Save the Planet” had the crowd singing along, while the closing song “Creep Creep” ended the night on a high note.
Young also paused between songs to talk about his Battery Tour, a nonprofit series of concerts entirely sustainably powered. Boston College was stop number seven on the tour which has future performances in Rome and Glasgow. Several of those shows are opening for figures as big as Paul McCartney and Barack Obama. Young said that he was especially excited to head out to New York after this show.
Young’s upcoming Project 17 is an album collaborating with the United Nations. In a video explaining the concept behind the album, Young said that he was attempting to make “theme songs” for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 set by the United Nations. There is currently no word on a release date for Project 17, but Young’s 2021 album Hello Again is currently streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.
Featured Image by Nicole Vagra / Heights Staff
