“We keep on ‘cause we need love, we keep on,” a crowd of people at Rozco’s Comedy Club sang along with Daniel Fears entranced by his message of soulful love at the SXSW performance. The UT alumnus’ crystalline voice filled the club with people happily standing at the bar when they no longer found any seats available to see the performance. 

The 30-minute set’s dimly pink glow of the stage lights and tiny battery candles lit Rozco’s that Wednesday night. Fears’ unique R&B and classical blended style through songs from multiple different composers. Because the performance started 30 minutes late due to technical issues, Fears repeatedly thanked the audience during the performance for their patience.

The performance consisted of  multiple composers’ pieces and opened with Fears’ own composition “Windows.” Fears smiled through his singing and turned to face the sweet-sounding string ensemble to his left on stage. He nodded along to them, eyes closed as if they were having their own conversation that the club had been invited to. 

Though Fears’ name starred as the titlehead of the show, the nine-person accompaniment behind him shined throughout the performances. The group included a string ensemble, a guitarist and two backup singers with one of them playing a keyboard. Along with that, Fears’ trombone sat unused to his left for the majority of the performance until it reached a climax midway. 

One of the most memorable parts of the show occurred during the song “Sweet Release.” Fears seemed most passionately singing then, moving his hands as if telling the crowd a story as he performed, strings bouncing alongside him. 

Audience members nodded along throughout as he skillfully balanced the classical and R&B aspects of the performance with the classical fans constantly proving impressed by the magical compositions and soul fans feeling satisfied periodically by Fears’ musical input. Fears’ obvious satisfaction with the whole performance as he swayed and snapped along center stage engaged everyone.

Fears clasped his hands above his head thanking the crowd. He then finished off the show with a song he said they’d never performed for an audience before, affectionately dubbing it a “world premiere” of his song “Say Something” from his Enough album released in December.  Though the rest of the concert had been majorly made up of happier love songs, this song ended the show on a more yearnful note leaving the fans whistling and cheering, wishing the performance could have gone on longer.