On Thursday, Jan. 14, the Lost Lake Lounge filled with fans waiting in a swell of anticipation for DU band The Northern Empty’s album release show. The Clarion was lucky enough to attend the show and have a chat with The Northern Empty’s Nick Anderson.

The Query, a cello and guitar/ukulele duo, was  the first opener of the night. Though the audience was small at this point in the show, The Query appeared to be perfectly content, playing a selection of folk-pop originals. The Query was an apt selection to get a small groove going before the bigger acts performed.

Next up was DU band Specific Ocean. To say that this band blew it out of the water wouldn’t be doing Specific Ocean justice; the five-piece comprised of Greyson Elkins (vocals and guitar), Hudson Knott (bass), Camilla Vaitaitis (vocals and keys), Clayton Vye (drums) and Alec Wenzel (guitar) has a stage presence that suggests years of performance experience, even though the band just began releasing material last year. Indie rock can be jaded, but Specific Ocean keeps it fresh with a solid background in jazz and a clear dedication to the craft.

After Specific Ocean, folk-influenced The Northern Empty hit the stage. Made up of Nick Anderson (vocals and guitar), Raven Underwood (violin), Brendan Schuster (keys), Erik Fellenstein (mandolin) and Cooper Leith (drummer), the quintet is wildly popular amongst the DU crowd. The hype for this band is well founded; it’s sometimes hard to find college bands that are talented writers, fantastic performers and humble musicians, but The Northern Empty has all of this and more. The band’s debut album, “Suzie,” was released to positive reception and success; the album peaked at the 25th spot on the iTunes singer-songwriter charts.

“That was pretty insane,” said Anderson about the album release. “None of us expected it. It was the night before we left for tour. We were up until 2 a.m. packing, and I looked at the charts just for kicks like ‘I wish we were up there,’ and we were.”

After the success of the release and a tour away from home, the band was ready to play for a crowd of enthusiastic friends and fans. Taking the stage amidst exuberant cheers, The Northern Empty was all smiles as they launched into the set, stopping every few songs to repeatedly thank the crowd and express genuine gratitude. The band played popular songs off the album such as “Off the Floor” and “Suzie.”

“That was our first sold out show,” Anderson said. “I never thought I would be playing a show where my friends and kids I didn’t know were singing the lyrics. To look out and see complete strangers mouthing our words, it was unreal.”

Each of the members were obviously well-trained in their respective instruments, and played them with passionate fervor. The sweet slide of Underwood’s violin blended effortlessly with Anderson’s smooth and wonderful voice, while Fellenstein strummed with ardent zeal on his mandolin. The audience could tell that the band was just as excited to be there as they were.

Perhaps one of the highlights of the night was when the band ended with a cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya,” a choice that may have seemed questionable for a folk-pop band but, in the end, paid off.

“That came together the rehearsal before the show. We were thinking of doing a ‘Superstition’ cover, but we didn’t have the time to do Stevie Wonder justice,” explained Anderson. “We loved it, and we loved playing it. We’re actually going to go record it, and release it as a single on Spotify and iTunes, just for fun.”

The Northern Empty will be recording new music in the near future and will also be opening for Magic Giant at the Larimer Lounge on March 13. Keep updated with The Northern Empty via the band’s Facebook page.