Train stops in Auburn

Train came through Auburn Thursday, April 25, making more noise than the city's usual freight train.
Train performed with opening acts Hot Chelle Rae and Green River Ordinance at the Auburn Arena.
Approximately 3,500 people attended the event.
Many of the students had never seen Train, Hot Chelle Rae or Green River Ordinance before, but were enthusiastic about the concert.
"I think Train's awesome and I'm really excited about it," said Amanda Hallman, freshman in pre-med. "I did not know about it until they announced it on campus."
Jacob Heflin, sophomore in theater was pumped to hear his favorite Train songs in person.
"I'm jacked," Heflin said. "I haven't seen them before and I haven't been to a concert in a really long time. My favorite Train songs are Marry Me and my mom and I used to sing Drops of Jupiter all the time."
Train wasn't able to stay in Auburn or go downtown after the concert because they had to leave a few hours afterwards and drive all night to their next location, something that is typical for the band, said Jimmy Stafford, guitarist for Train.
Stafford said Train doesn't do shows on college campuses as often as they used to.
"The energy is so great because you know its college kids, they're fun and into it," Stafford said. "Even if you don't think you know us . . . when you see the show you're like 'oh holy crap, I knew every song' so it's really fun to play for the colleges."
Train has been on tour for almost five years straight, but will soon get a break in the upcoming year while they make their greatest hits record.
Stafford said Led Zeppelin and AC/DC were bands that inspired his musical talents and that the members of Train have different tastes in music that they mix together in their songs.
"It's kind of just a melting pot, when you get together with four other guys and you form a band, everybody's got their different influences," Stafford said. "Pat is into James Taylor and I'm into AC/DC and Scott's into Phish and then you put all of your influences together and you spit out what we spit out."
The band's crazy partying nights are in the past, and most of them have gotten married and have kids, Stafford said.
"In the early days, especially when we were just like 'all right we're rock stars now, let's party,' those were the days where we would finish a show and we wouldn't leave till the next morning so we would go out to the bars with the locals and hang out and get into all kinds of trouble," Stafford said. "Whatever you can imagine, it has happened."
Stafford said the music industry is a tough business that takes commitment and never giving up.
"I just always tell people to be honest and be real, you can tell when bands are kind of phony and they're trying to be something that they're really not," Stafford said. "Be real, be genuine, in anything you do in life."
Some students who hadn't heard of Green River Ordinance or Hot Chelle Rae before the concert said that they still enjoyed their performance.
"It was really enjoyable, good energy," said Carl Lyness, senior in building science. "I'm more interested in Hot Chelle Rae (now), they have a lot more songs than I thought."
Brooke Reisberg, senior in architecture, and Kalli Jones, sophomore in PRTV, said that Train was their favorite of the three.
"Going in I wasn't that sure about (Train), but after that I definitely like them a lot more now," Jones said.
Although they arrived in time, Cameron Clark, freshman in finance advising, and Tyler Doyle, freshman in business, did not hear about it until today.
"Maybe they should have sent out a University wide email or something," Doyle said.
Other bands students wanted to see instead of Train, Hot Chelle Rae and Green River Ordinance included Blink-182, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Mackelmore.
"Luckily we all have a job that we love to do, it's a pretty great job," Stafford said. "We're fortunate to still be a band after all these years and still get to do this job."