Storytime: Eli Shane

August 5, 2014
David Wexler

Eli ShaneIf you’ve seen any of his weekly cover song videos on YouTube, you would know 11-year-old Eli Shane is not shy. But singing All Wash Out in front of 20,000 fans at the Gathering of the Vibes Festival alongside Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, well that’s a different story.

During ESMZ’s performance of All Wash Out Saturday, Aug. 2, at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Conn., frontman Alex Ebert invited Eli to the stage to sing along, and young Eli did not disappoint. The young boy from New York — wearing braces, thick glasses and a T-shirt that read: “Positive Vibes Only” — fired up the crowd as he dove into the verse: “To my child of wonder rambling…” It was a moment he’ll never forget.

“I always wanted to perform in front of a crowd that big, and the fact that they made my dream come true and were so generous and caring, it gave me a whole different view of them,” Eli said.

“Before he started, everybody around me said, ‘Let him sing!’ Then Alex said, ‘You wanna sing? Come up here. So I came up, sang with him and took a selfie with him. It was amazing!”

Eli admitted that he was so moved by the experience that he actually began to tear up during the song.

“My voice is sorta crazy cause I just stopped crying, and my voice sounds REALLY high…” Eli wrote on his Instagram page after the show.

Eli his own YouTube Channel and even though he may not be an Internet sensation yet —he has generated more than 3,270 page views as of today — it isn’t for a lack of trying. He plays guitar, drums and ukelele, and sings. Among our favorites is his take of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ That’s What’s Up (His video of Count on You by Big Time Rush is now up to 2,400 page views).

Check out photos of young Eli from the Gathering of the Vibes Festival, as well as the video below.

4 Comments

  1. Wow, thanks for the story!

  2. Wow, thanks for the story!!!

  3. Way to go Eli!!!!! You are one cool kid!!!!! 😉 Never stop being fearless!!!!

  4. Pingback: Good Vibrations | Carry On Blog

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