Open on a quintessential LA summer night at The Greek Theatre – The absolute perfect backdrop for the Australian duo, Royel Otis, giving us their signature brand of indie-pop rock, with catchy guitar riffs and melodies. They take a look around at the massive sold-out crowd and are in obvious awe of how epic it feels to be on this stage on this Wednesday night.
Just as I had expected, they opened the night with their first song from their sophomore album Hickey, “I Hate This Tune.” The band didn’t spend a lot of time chatting up the crowd but instead let the music and guitars do all of the talking, launching back-to-back songs which kept the momentum going and the crowd on their feet.
The crowd spanned multiple generations – which was intriguing to see. The sheer fact that these musicians connected all of these people with a blend of both old and new influences in their own unique sound. And they delivered for the fans. They gave us all that we were there to see, music and more music. Oh, and some dancing and singing along, naturally.
As each song played, the projection screen in the background was being fed context of their story told in the duo’s songwriting. The song “Shut Up” had the words, “This is a song about not wanting someone” projected on the screen while playing.
Whether it was the text or edited videos playing, it invoked nostalgic feelings of being young, in love, and being young and in and out of love.
About halfway through their set, the duo left the stage and started walking up the aisles, Royel with guitar in hand, giving off Kurt Cobain vibes, and they performed two of their more stripped-down songs, one being their infamous hit cover song “Linger,” from the great Irish band The Cranberries. This was just the cherry on top for the fans that are further back in the crowd. A move like this makes me feel like they care deeply about their fan base and want them to have something iconic to remember. We all know where the real fans are usually sitting. Deeper in the back : )
What made the night unforgettable, though, was the sheer chemistry between the band and the crowd. Fans smiling with hands in the air, Otis would come around and high-five fans in the crowd in the pit. The band had no shortage of smiles and feelings of gratitude, being blown away by the size of the sold-out crowd. They would say several times, “This is crazy”
The band announced the show was finished and walked off. And we all know that no show is complete without their iconic “Oysters” song, which the crowd was screaming and clapping, yelling the word “OYSTERS!”
And they gave the people what they wanted; they came back to the stage to leave us with two songs — their latest single “Sweet Hallelujah” and finished the night off with “Oysters in My Pocket”
As a big fan that has spent the last few years singing along to Royel Otis in my car during my work commute in rush hour traffic, seeing them step on the stage at my favorite venue in LA will never not be magic. As we all shuffled out of the venue with our ears ringing and legs heavy from all of the dancing, I look around and can’t help but feel the infectious energy and I smile to the people all around me. We had all shared something so fleeting and electric in a moment in time, all together at The Greek, that will never happen exactly that way again. I felt that for our one night together, we were all connected and fueled by the magic of the music.
Catch Royel Otis on tour here.
