Emerging California indie pop trio lovelytheband swooned an Iowa State crowd with catchy pop hits and a playful presence at the Great Hall Thursday night.

“I f— heavily with college shows,” frontman Mitchy Collins tells the Daily. “I never went to college so I live vicariously through everyone every time I go to one.”

College students are lovelytheband’s main demographic which is what makes the shows so fun Collins explains.

Thursday night’s show caps off the band’s first leg of their headlining “Broken Like Me” tour. Prior to touring the band dropped their first album “finding it hard to smile”.

“It’s a crazy concept. These songs have been in our Dropbox folders ever since they were done. Then they’re released, people know them and they come to shows and they’re singing words only we knew for a while,” says the band’s drummer Sam Price.

Supporting lovelytheband was Michael Joseph Nelson known under the stage name BANNERS. The performance kept a consistent relaxing vibe throughout; warming up the crowd for the main act.

When lovelytheband took the Great Hall stage they were welcomed by shrieks of excitement.

The atmosphere was fan heavy. Concert-goers who knew every word to the entire set were a common sight. The band took notice to the crowd’s receptiveness and delivered one enthusiastic performance after another.

The band happily engaged the crowd with jokes and conversation to make the show a personal experience that fans clearly appreciated.

“We’re so grateful because we know it doesn’t happen that often,” lovelytheband’s lead guitarist Jordan Greenwald says on the band’s instant success.

The band debuted with a charting single “broken” the song their tour is named after. Before performing the hit song during their set front man Collins described it as, “the song that changed our lives.”

It was a vulnerable moment on stage for Collins as he spoke to the audience about the themes of the song.

“This song has become an anthem for people that maybe feel a little less than perfect,” Collins tells the crowd.

“broken” is catchy and poppy, a song that’s easy to sing along to, but lyrically contains emotional and personal undertones. This is a common trend in lovelytheband’s music.

“The juxtaposition of lyrical content and the music makes it a little easier to digest,” Collins tells the Daily. “I listen to sad, slow, depressing music all the time. I love it but it certainly puts you in a hole.”

At the show’s end Collins thanks the audience for one of their best nights on tour.

As the frontman of a successful up and coming band Collins gave great advice for other young bands when talking to the Daily.

“Focus on the songs. Make sure it’s genuine. Make sure it’s you. In the music world co-writing and collaborating and finding a producer becomes such a norm that bands don’t do it themselves first, ” says Collins. “My biggest piece of advice is when you’re trying to start a band is go lock yourself in a room with your band or yourself and write a thousand songs. Figure it out on your own and what’s good and what’s good for you. You have to figure out who you are first.”

The pressure is on says Collins on how lovelytheband’s success affects their creative process going forward. However, Collins says he hasn’t put a lot of thought yet into their next album.

“I haven’t had a lot of trauma or heartbreak since the first one happened,” says Collins.

“It’ll happen,” jokes fellow bandmate Price.