After touring small venues and colleges around the northeast, Matt Pond PA made a stop at Boston University, kicking off the spring semester live concert series at BU Central Friday night.

The Everyday Visuals and Matt Pond PA performed in front of more than 200 students. Both bands were chosen to perform because of their appeal to college student, according to Student Activities Office Programs Coordinator Josh Hiscock.

“[Matt Pond PA] have a song in the OC soundtrack,” he said. “So we thought they would attract a lot of people.”

Front man Matt Pond, one of five band members, including a woman who plays the cello, helps give the ensemble an original sound. In September 2005, Rolling Stone named the group one of the “Ten Bands to Watch in 2006.”

Many students said they enjoyed the relatively private concert. Pond was interactive with the audience, often making jokes and even taking an emergency bathroom break in the middle of the performance. He also dropped his guitar while setting up for a song, at which time he said, “Some people have pyrotechnics, we just have clumsiness.”

College of Communication freshman Kelly Wrather said she really enjoyed the intimacy of the event.

“Oh, the show was great,” she said. “I loved how it was really intimate and the band was all about telling stories and talking to the audience. That interaction is hard to get at a bigger venue.”

Other students said they thought BU Central was not an ideal venue for the concert.

“I don’t know if I liked that the concert was in BU Central,” COM freshman Samara Vise said. “While it’s a more intimate setting, there wasn’t much of a stage, which made it hard to see the bands.”

Students said they enjoyed Matt Pond PA and coped with the visibility problems by standing on chairs.

Because the band took some time to set up and tune between songs, the event began to run late, and the crowd started thinning out. By about 11:30 p.m., only a handful of people remained.

Some students said they were actually disappointed with the turnout of the show.

“They could have promoted it better,” School of Management freshman Raphael Arar said. “For a free concert, there should have been more people there, especially because Matt Pond PA is such a good band.”

Pond said although some parts of the show did not go as planned, he was still pleased with the outcome.

“I was really sloppy tonight,” he said. “I’d rather play really well than have to rely on being funny.”

Pond said college venues and college crowds are difficult to play for.

“It’s really rough because people react differently,” he said. “They’re either really subdued or they don’t know your songs. They should just let themselves go.”