Fifth Harmony - The Fall Fling '13 Concert Review

Image: Epic Records/ Fifth Harmony

I’d always liked the idea of Lylas 1432 Fifth Harmony, a manufactured girl group put together for the fans and perpetuated to the brink of stardom by those same fans. I would personally recognize their “Anything Could Happen” as the standout performance of Season 2 of The X Factor USA, the magical moment that most likely won them a recording contract with Epic just in the nick of time. When I was offered the opportunity to see Camila, Lauren, Ally, Dinah, and Normani perform at this year’s Fall Fling in Toms River, I was totally down. I’d gotten to know Fifth Harmony’s fans, the Harmonizers, through various Twitter conversations, professional fan projects, and whatnot. Dinah, apparently, loves The Vampire Diaries, and I was curious to ask her how The Originals has managed to sweep Klaroline clean under the rug without so much as a mention. Of course, my brief encounter with the girls before the show would entail one massive group hug, a very nice compliment from Lauren on my (amazing) cologne, and me bumbling on about how I’m some hack of a writer as their handler shooed me away. “We have to get the girls on stage!!!” To which Fifth Harmony replied with a unified, “Aaaaw…” I walked away and realized I’d just let Fifth Harmony shower me with nice comments like a goon, and I never even got the chance to dish any back. They’re radiantly gorgeous and impossibly sweet. Before I knew it, it was showtime! Let me review this concert!

I went to this Fall Fling concert to cover Fifth Harmony’s set, so excuse my utter lack of professionalism as I breeze through this next part. I just, quite honestly, wasn’t paying attention to the lead-ins, so let me just get this out of the way. We sat through about a thousand opening acts that lasted for approximately ninety minutes. I got a kick out of the first little fellow (Liam something? Liam Lis: Here's his music video!) who lip synced his way through a few original pop songs, but by the time we got to “spunky girl who was yanked off stage after one song” and “nice fellow who once sang with Beatrice Miller (I think? Here's Nick's music video!),” I had checked my twitter feed about twenty different times and went to the bathroom twice just for fun. I don’t know. I’m a twenty-something dude of a critical writer, so this wasn’t necessarily my scene, all things considered. Something about an opening act snapping a pic of “their” crowd for Instagram kind of irked me, but I’m just the mean old critic. It’s like, don’t make Ally Brooke’s fans pose for you, you know? You’re not Normani. On the other hand, I would have been way more shameless had I been born with a smidge of vocal talent. Go for it?

The young crowd of howling tweens, for what it’s worth, seemed to enjoy most of it, though, and that’s what matters. That is, save for the five-year-old boy standing on his chair next to me. The final opening singer closed out his set with something along the lines of, “They’re forcing me off stage! Don’t you guys want to hear just one… more... song?!” To which the little boy replied with a resounding, “Nooooo.”

“I’m with him,” I’d mutter to myself. Where is Camila? Where is her bow? The true star of the sets leading up to Fifth Harmony, though, was this one incredible woman, a hype girl for Radio Disney who quite obviously loved her duties as the night’s emcee. She was a one-woman show! She was clad in a blazing red sweat suit! She got us all excited for Fifth Harmony and R5 (the other headliner)! She danced like she was competing in a rap battle in a dangerous back alley! I was sold! Color me hyped! But, seriously, where’s Lauren?

Finally, the girls would hit the stage and the crowd would subsequently erupt into roars. One thing I’ve come to realize about Fifth Harmony is that I really don’t think their stardom was born on The X Factor. I truly think these girls made it happen on their own, with some guidance from Simon and LA, post-show. I think this is a case of rabid fans, the amazing Harmonizers, refusing to settle for a third place finish.

Let me go over the performances first, than I’ll touch on what each girl brought to the stage. The girls opened up with a song called “Don’t Wanna Dance Alone.” It’s an up-tempo ditty with a lot of funk to it. It’s a head-bobber that melds pop with a throwback vibe. I’m all for five talented girls introducing young kids to a different sound than they’re used to. The titular track from the girls’ EP, Better Together, I believe, is meant to be about losing a boy and wanting him back, but it was super clear to me as this fivesome trotted around stage as a group belting the words, “You don’t understand that we’re better together,” that this song symbolizes their unity as a girl group. The five pop starlets then brought the swagger and sass to “One Wish,” a bonus track from the Target exclusive version of Better Together, before Dinah wrangled everyone in for an acoustic set that included a cover of Ariana Grande’s “Honeymoon Avenue” and a quiet rendition of the girls’ own ballad, “Who Are You.” I never really understood Simon Cowell’s strange compliment(?) of “You’re not a group. You’re five great singers!” but when you sit down and hear each girl loud and clear without the thumping beats and flashing lights, you understand just what each of them is capable of. Finally, Fifth Harmony would conclude their epic set with stellar live renditions of their two biggest hits, “Me & My Girls” and “Miss Movin’ On,” before waving farewell to the crowd.

Here’s what I took away from each girl individually. During the up-tempo numbers, Ally Brooke’s vocals blare through the beats and sound killer. Normani Kordei works the stage like no other. If she’s in the center doing her thing, she’s commanding your attention. Camila Cabello and Lauren Jauregui are like delicate powerhouses. They have incredibly different tones, but when they sit and belt, both of them shine. It’s nice to hear them crystal clear. Going into this concert, I realized that Fifth Harmony does a great job of spreading the love. There is no front-woman of this girl group, yet Dinah Jane Hansen seemed to take the lead during this Fall Fling show, welcoming the crowd with some awesome shout-outs before slaying it vocally, especially on that “Who Are You” ballad. I appreciated that midway through one of the numbers that required the girls to stomp and strut around the stage, Camila threw down her headband as if to say, “Enough of this shackle! I need to perform!” There is no weak link here. Honestly, I can’t even tell you which member I’d choose as my personal favorite.

Overall, Fifth Harmony went from being the ultimate underdogs on The X Factor to the edge of superstar glory. If none of the opening acts ever match their success, and I wish them all luck and many record sales, they’ll at least be able to someday say, “I got to open for the Fifth Harmony.” Normani, Camila, Lauren, Dinah, and Ally are all equally talented. They each bring a necessary flair to the group with their own particular brand of girl power. Most importantly, they all clearly love each other and their Harmonizers. They are, indeed, Better Together!

Buy Better Together by Fifth Harmony on iTunes

Also, be sure to check out the Fifth Harmony Digital Yearbook here!

(Head to Page 1 for Normani Kordei)

(Head to Page 2 for Ally Brooke)

(Head to Page 3 for Dinah Jane Hansen)

(Head to Page 4 for Lauren Jauregui)

(Head to Page 5 for Camila Cabello)