Amidst the snow and cold weather, American Football received a warm homecoming welcome from fans as it brought its indie rock set back to town for the first time since their 2014 reunion.

American Football played at 8 p.m. Monday night in Foellinger Auditorium.

Hailing from Champaign-Urbana, American Football has been around since 1997 and released its first self-titled EP in 1998. American Football then went on to release its first self-titled album in 1999. After an amicable break in 2000, the band has since released another self-titled album this year.

Alishan Gaglani, senior in Engineering, is one of two senior managers at Star Course, the organization involved in booking the show. Since American Football’s rise in popularity, Gaglani said the band was thought to be a difficult one to book.

“(The show is) unique because they’re from the Urbana area, so this would be more of a homecoming show, and we thought it would be a really cool opportunity to bring them,” Gaglani said.

Though the show took place on campus, fans from different parts of Illinois came out to the emotional performance.

Eric Fenzil, sophomore at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, drove to Champaign for the show. Fenzil said he became a fan of American Football in the beginning of high school and has been listening to the band since then.

“I was a sad teenager and stuff and there was some common ground there,” Fenzil said.

Dylan Horsch, student at Parkland College and fan of American Football, said he looked forward to hearing songs from the band’s early beginnings.

“I’m excited for their self-titled album…(and the songs) ‘Honestly’ and ‘Never Meant’,” Horsch said.

Reggae tunes filled up Foellinger as the crowd waited for the show to begin. The warm and mellow environment set the tone for the start of the opening song, “Birthmark”, a mostly solo performance by American Football’s Nate Kinsella.

Kinsella toyed with the guitar and let loose with the bass over eccentric automated beats. Drummer Steve Lamos briefly joined in with a harder off-beat, eventually coming together in sync and showing off the complexity of their style, which is often characterized as Math Rock.

American Football took the stage. The image of their latest album hung in the background. Their eerie sounds set a relaxed mood, as they progressed through each song with smooth transitions, often changing guitars and exchanging instruments like the tambourine.

Lamos demonstrated his second talent, smoothly playing the trumpet during the transitions from song to song. The audience remained seated, nodding their heads in accordance to the melodies that faded in and out continuously.

American Football remained raw in character. As the band began to play “Born To Lose,” frontman Mike Kinsella joked with the crowd and stopped the band because they messed up.

Halfway through the set, Kinsella interacted with the crowd by asking, “Do you guys wanna talk about anything?” Shouts from the crowd came from all over the auditorium, with comments such as, “Welcome back” and  “I love you,” to which Kinsella responded, “Didn’t know anyone liked our band.”

As the show came to a close, the band left the stage, and the crowd clapped in unison to bring them back for an encore. The band re-entered the stage and claimed that “Mike had a pee break.”

American Football stayed on stage to play three more songs, remaining humble and in tune with the mood. The band’s style stayed true to what fans looked forward to, and did not disappoint fan’s expectations. 

“Even from just the very first notes of that song (‘Never Meant’), always you can tell what song it is,” Fenzil said.

Before playing the last song, American Football bid the crowd farewell with a “see you at Kam’s in an hour” and “good luck with finals.”

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