“It’s gonna be a perfect day, y’all,” OneRepublic‘s Ryan Tedder told the Today show crowd as the sun shined down on Rockefeller Plaza Tuesday morning (May 2).
Prior to the band taking the stage, what cameras may not have caught was a rather random, yet brief rain shower, which Tedder was likely referencing since it was sunny by the time they were ready to play. But his positive statement was symbolic in another way, as OneRepublic’s Today show appearance (part of the Citi Concert Series on TODAY) served as the first live performance for the band since Tedder wrote a very honest open letter about a near breakdown he suffered last fall.
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Despite how he may have been feeling six months ago, Tedder was in high spirits during the performance — especially for such an early morning. Even in between filming, Tedder chatted with fans who shouted questions like “Who’s your favorite superhero?” (“Batman, but maybe the Michael Keaton Batman”) and “What kind of car do you drive?” (“I drive a school bus, the short one,” he laughed).
OneRepublic’s Today performance also marked the live debut of the band’s new single “No Vacancy,” which Tedder told Billboard is the poppiest song they’ve ever written. Even if that is true, OneRepublic’s other Today show concert series song choices — “Apologize,” “Secrets,” “Counting Stars” and “Good Life” — proved that poppy or not, they sure know how to craft a hit.
Watch the “No Vacancy” and “Counting Stars” performances, as well as an in-studio interview with Tedder, below.