Sporting matching outfits of suspenders and straw hats, The Amish Outlaws performed on the main stage at the Lebanon Area Fair on Wednesday.
Read More: Amish Outlaws, Sapphire are among headliners this year at the Lebanon Fair
Band members interacted with the crowd by joking around with people who didn’t look excited enough or by pulling people out of their seats to join the dance pit in front of the stage.
The six-man band has three members who were raised in Lancaster’s Pennsylvania Dutch Amish community but left during Rumspringa, a tradition in which Amish teenagers have the opportunity to live outside the strict rules before deciding if they want to come back and be baptized into the Amish church.
Hezekiah Yoder, lead vocals and one of the men that started the band in 2002, said the crowd at the fair was “wonderful.”
While singing, he often came down from the stage. He took laps through the lines of lawn chairs, taking people by the hand and pulling them up to dance with him and the crowd.
“The goal of our band more than anything is to try to get people moving and grooving,” Yoder said. “We pick songs for that particular goal. We try to make it a mix of very different things. I like to think that your grandma will enjoy it and hopefully your little baby cousin will enjoy it, too.”
The Amish Outlaws primarily tour up and down the East Coast, but they have also performed in Las Vegas and on two cruises to Bermuda.
Though Wednesday’s Lebanon crowd was excited and some wore their Amish Outlaws “Rumspringa forever” shirts, Yoder said the band isn’t made up of “cool guys.”
“We’re not cool guys at all,” he said. “There’s a difference between the crowd liking it and being cool.”
He contrasted the group with other famous musicians who have an electric energy as soon as they walk on stage. He said it isn’t as easy for the outlaws, and that’s why they often have to take a more hands-on approach to get people excited.
“There’s a lot of work going on — a lot of blood, sweat and tears, a lot of movement,” Yoder said.
And the crowd liked it.
During a break halfway through the performance, some checked out the band’s merchandise or found members offstage to chat with them.
And Facebook users took to their screens to share photos and videos of the night. They complimented the popular songs they chose to cover and the fun, interactive nature of the show.
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