Cherub whip Made in America crowd into patriotic frenzy

How does a band win over a Made In America festival, and inspire a patriotic chant while they're at it?

"This song's called 'Chocolate Strawberries,' said Jordan Kelley, singer of Nashville electro-pop duo Cherub, the first band up on the festival's Rocky Stage. "It's about doing that, and watching pornos. That's a pretty American thing to do, right?"

In truth, Kelley and bandmate Jason Huber — they hail from Nashville — won over the crowd with relative ease. They specialize in a brand of broadly accessible dance pop (with a few experimental touches, like Kelley's use of a "talkbox" synthesizer unit for his guitar) that might at first have seemed a little too lightweight to merit a main Rocky Stage slot.

But  the largely teenage early-comers were happy to bop along from the get-go, especially when the band shamelessly tossed in a straightahead cover of Calvin Harris' 2012 crowd-pleasing hit "Feel So Close."

                                                                                                                                                  -- Dan DeLuca

For more coverage of the Made in America festival: http://data.inquirer.com/thetalk