The Fray's national anthem performance gets mixed reviews

LEXINGTON, Ky. - While many people predicted the University of Kentucky Wildcats would win the NCAA Tournament, not many people anticipated the national anthem at the final game to draw such mixed reviews.

When Denver-based band, The Fray performed the national anthem before Monday’s Kansas-Kentucky match up, it was greeted with both support and criticism.

The acoustic-heavy version brought a new sound to the 198-year-old song and although lead singer, Issac Slade remembered all the words, that’s one of the only things some news sources thought the band did right.

The performance was deemed “dreadful” in a Yahoo Sports article.

“If you weren't listening to the lyrics, you'd have never known the band was singing our national anthem,” wrote columnist Chris Chase in the article.

An article on Entertainment Weekly’s website said it was different, but not bad.

“Sure, it wasn’t exactly a powerful call to arms, as the best ‘Star Spangled Banners’ can be,” wrote Hillary Busis in the article. “Even so, the song was creative and melodic, and it proved that every national anthem performed at a giant sports event doesn’t have to sound the same.”

What do you think? Click on the video in the player below and tell us your thoughts in the comment section below. (Note to mobile users: Open in a browser to watch the videos.)

Compare The Fray’s performance to other well-known national anthem performances. Click on the video player to watch videos of performances by Whitney Houston, Steven Tyler and Christina Aguilera.