Spoiler Alert: Odesza Was Amazing

It’s 1am and I just got back from seeing this Seattle duo at the Bowery Ballroom, yet I’m so pumped up from the show that I just want to write about it instead of going to sleep.

When listening to Odesza in my headphones, I’ve always found them to be pretty chill, warranting maybe a little head bopping here and there. Yet after seeing them twice this year, I’ve realized that their dreamy-and-tropical-and-occasionally-hip-hop songs are nowhere near as calming in person. Their live shows have a totally unpredicted level of energy that makes you want to dance, yet not to the extent that you jump up and down like a maniac and get all sweaty and gross. If you could somehow bring an Odesza live performance into your home, it would be the kind of thing you would rock out to in your bedroom when no one was watching. You know, on the days when you want something a little more off the beaten path than Beyonce (though I never disapprove of a Beyonce dance party).

Though both members of Odesza spent most of their time facing forward on production (as you would expect), at times they turned back to back to play the drums.** The visual this created was really nice to look at, especially since sometimes they looked like just some drumming, iPod-commercial-esque shadows in contrast to the screen behind them, which was constantly projecting a whole bunch of fun graphics (Nature! Random shapes! Fire!).

Look at this nice blurry photo

Another reason why I love seeing Odesza live is because of the crowd, which my friend Natalie aptly called, “polite bros.” And aren’t those the best – and perhaps rarest – type of bros? I didn’t even mind when the bro next to me spent a full 60 seconds yelling, “YUP!” on every downbeat during one song. His enthusiasm was hilarious, and he stopped before it got on anyone’s nerves.

I’m very jealous of my friend who’s going to see them tomorrow night (tonight, actually) at Music Hall of Williamsburg, which is one of my favorite venues.

** They didn’t have actual drum kits, they just played on those things that look like keyboards. But…are drums. What are those called? Anyone? And why can’t I make this text tiny? I don’t get WordPress.