Odesza Blows Away Sold Out Myth

Wednesday brought an absolutely sold out crowd to the Myth. Bringing Kasbo, Sofi Tukker, and Odesza on the docket. Kasbo is still touring on his Umbrella Club EP that he released in 2015. Since then the Swedish DJ has been releasing a constant stream of singles. Sofi Tukker, the duo from New York is touring on their EP Soft Animals, that has a couple of their hit singles. Their newest single, “Best Friend” has been all over the airwaves this year. It was their first time in Minneapolis as they noted a couple times and the crowd was very supportive. All of this backing up Odesza on their “A Moment Apart” tour to support their new album of the same name.

Sofi Tukker, consisting of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern, was quite an interesting show. They certainly are more of a yin-yang duo. Where as Sophie rocks the guitar chords and Tucker takes the bass, but their attire was also entirely different of each other. Sophie is rocking a romper, while Tucker has on a football jersey, neon yellow leg warmers, and a hair cut that says, “I try and stay ahead of the curve in trends”.

As I mentioned, this was their first show in Minneapolis. At times they asked how Minneapolis was doing and they had a bit of nervous energy since this is their first EP, they want to make a good impression. They had an interesting set-up display and would change sides, talk to each other in the middle, doing their best to interact with the crowd. They finished their set with “Drinkee” and people dug it. I think there is a lot of potential with Sofi Tukker. I like how they perform, they take the actual music they make and their mixer puts it together with their beats. So they aren’t stationary really at all. On top of that they both do a bit of vocals, Tucker does a but more modulated than Sophie, but I think there is a lot of potential to mix it up and their sound was a good entry point for Odesza to capitalize on.

As Sofi Tukker cleared the way, we were left with two identical drum displays. Odesza has a very clean, minimal look. Odesza, the Seattle born duo, came out with their new album, A Moment Apart, in September of this year. It is their third album and in its first week hit #3 in the US overall and of course #1 in the dance charts. Odesza released a grand total of five singles and the album itself is about an hour long, which is, in my opinion, significant. Suddenly the large screen in the background plays a video over “Intro” the first track off their new album. The crowd is excited.

These guys came hard and they came fast. After their first track ended, they started with their title track, A Moment Apart, which was accompanied by the “Odesza drum line” with a trumpet and trombone. This absolutely blew my mind. They finished the number and would come back from time to time. They would fire confetti, lights, and quite a light show in addition to everything else. They really would use their screen behind them to play some visualizer videos to set a mood, let the crowd vibe along to their show.

They would work their way through some new tracks, mix in an old one and then reset the crowd with a slow jam. Build the crowd back up. It really allowed them to reset the crowd back to “Higher Ground” one of their bigger hits off their new album. Now the big difference here, between their performance and let’s say an artist like Rezz from last week, is that Odesza has a more refined set list, as Rezz really can get lost in the gaps of her own songs which is what the so special about the live experience with her, finding new beats. While listening to Odesza, it felt like listening to their album but on a bigger scale to be honest. Which is still quite impressive since there is a lot of great music on their new album.

The crowd here loves this album, most of them are shouting along the chorus and grooving along.  I like to make note that the light show was great. It’s always interesting to see a band incorporate their older music back in and getting a reaction. They bring the drum line back out, they are wearing a white hoodie ensemble this time, decked out on the duos logo. Beyond that, they seemed to mellow out a bit during the middle half of their show. So they are really playing more music for people to vibe along to, enjoying the moment and then they drop the beat, to a “Let’s go Minnesota!”. This place is absolutely packed. Very sold out show.

They pick it up in the third act, they go for more standard drum beat songs, letting the beat build and then dropping the vocals over the top. Then they would they would take the treble out and fade it down before hitting you with the bass. It’s a formula they are comfortable with, the crowd consistently yells for more. They transition into “Line of Sight” which is an absolute banger from their album. They don’t really push the bass, the vocals, or the volume in any particular way. They really just let their music speak for itself. They have the drum line come out. They bring out big bass drums. It’s really an incredible experience. They are showman. It’s hard to take it up a notch from a certified hit.

They go back to their first album for a few jams, they are a bit more bass heavy, and have a more nightclub feel with more synthy vibes. Those get cheers from the crowd. This is the real EDM creamy center of the candy bar that is Odesza. They have a very mainstream, fantastic album but they don’t forget where they started. Layering great beats and vocals. I would say that the audience really appreciated them mixing it up. They played a few of their remixes. They sort of did a reset for every segment of their show. They slow it down, playing “Keep Her Close” from their previous album. A slower jam for all the lovers out there.

You can really find a little of everything in here. Odesza manages to keep the energy high and change it up. They are an absolute delight to watch. At the very least you get to experience their fantastic new album on a great sound system. I am absolutely excited to see what is next in store for them as a duo. They really bring a great show with them, they care about the crowd, and are blast to watch perform. They are in-town tonight for another show at the Myth, if you can, grab a ticket. It’s quite the experience and at the very least give their new album, A Moment Apart a listen.

Check out my general shenanigans on Instagram