Sara James and The Hess Brothers returned to the THON stage for the second year in a row and woke up the BJC with its youthful sound as crowd numbers began to rise.

The five-piece band from South Jersey focused mainly on pop and rock hits, both current and classic, opening with Muse’s “Uprising” and Mumford & Sons’ “The Wolf.”

The young group didn’t interact much with the crowd, but showed off their musical prowess as they continued with their set. They transitioned seamlessly from one track to another, even when switching instruments and lead vocalists.

Sara James and The Hess Brothers continued with “My Body” by Young the Giant, “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet, and “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin. After enticing the crowd with Foo Fighters’ “The Pretender” and other classics, it rocked out to a strangely wonderful acoustic rendition of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.”

To get the crowd moving, the group switched gears and played some more modern pop hits, performing “Stitches” by Shawn Mendes and Bruno Mars. Despite some technical issues, the teen group kept their composure and even asked the crowd for a little help.

“I could use your guys help on this one,” James said. “If you know this one, please sing along.”

The last portion of the band’s set featured a rapid fire of different genres, including Royal Blood’s “Figure It Out,” James Bay’s “Collide,” Florence and The Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over,” “Heathens” by the Twenty One Pilots, “Spoonman” by Soundgarden, and “Reptilia” by The Strokes, allowing James and her mail counterpart on guitar to fully display their vocal range. The band led the crowd in a We Are chant before leaving the stage.