Odesza w/ Big Wild and Yahtzel
WaMu Theater, Seattle, WA
03.29.18
Just a day before the first of three hometown shows, Clayton (Clay) Knight was celebrating his birthday and Harrison Mills posted an old video to social media of their band, Odesza, playing together at a local club. The setup was simple, computers and some basic equipment. It’s been six years since the two met and started working together as Odesza, and based on the video you can tell how much their live show has grown and changed for the better. Their live show at WaMu Theater was pure evidence of that.
Odesza’s live show production now is stunning, with strobe lights breaking through thick fog and an elevated, angular platform from which the duo conduct their symphony of electronic beats. But they don’t stop there. They’ve incorporated a full drumline, pyrotechnic cannons, a wide backdrop screen that projects beautiful graphics and animations, and then, of course, there’s the confetti. I could go on and on, but take my word for it when I say you just have to experience it yourself. Trying to capture the magic in pictures was a difficult task.
There were two openers before Odesza. The first one was Yahtzel and then Big Wild, both of whom are on Odesza’s label—Foreign Family Collective. Big Wild put on a great set and had great lighting to add to his music. Odesza found Big Wild via Soundcloud back in 2015, and thus began a great relationship. His first EP was released on Foreign Family Collective two years after connecting with Odesza and he’s had a lot of success with his 2016 hit “Aftergold,” featuring Tove Styrke.
Watching Big Wild perform, you can really see how he gets into it. As he flings his hair back and forth, then whips it back to uncover his face, he often has a great look of concentration as well as excitement. He did a great job getting the crowd into it and when I looked back, I could see fans singing along in the front row as they were taking a Snapchat video of themselves.
At 10 PM sharp, it was time. The lights went down and the crowd noise level went up. Odesza opened the show with a bang; bringing out their horn players, drumline, and the perfect lighting to complete their grand entrance. As soon as they stepped onstage, the crowd broke into an uproar. It was quite the spectacle to behold.
They went right into playing hits from their latest album, A Moment Apart, in addition to tracks from In Return, but the songs weren’t played just as you hear them on the records. The group reworked them in a way that lent new life to the songs and gave the show a dynamic ebb and flow. Sometimes I worry when an artist attempts this and strays from what an audience may love about the original songs but the duo pulled it off. They stuck to most of the original sound but wove them in and out of one another quite well. For example, they didn’t quite finish the full song “Across the Room” but rather, mixed the ending of the song into another one later in the set.
The audience seemed mainly female, probably between 16-25 years old, and all dressed to go out and dance. It was great to see people completely entranced, dancing as if no one was watching, as they enjoyed themselves and got into the music. Even audience members in the back or on the sides were having a great time, bobbing their heads and moving to the beats of Odesza.
There were a few featured guests that came out to join the guys and sing their songs, including Naomi Wild on “Higher Ground” and WYNN for “Line of Sight.” RY X also came onstage as part of their encore to sing the closing song from A Moment Apart, “Corners of the Earth.” It was a nice dynamic to add to their performance.
There weren’t many breaks in Odesza’s hour and a half set, though Knight and Mills would occasionally fire up the crowd by saying, “Seattle, let me hear you!” Each of them also thanked the audience for attending and being a part of their night instead of being anywhere else. You could tell this was a special night for them as well as for everyone in attendance.
Review and photos by Cole Whitworth
Odesza
Big Wild
