The Night Rezz Turned the Armory into The Upside Down

Best Editing or Best Picture?

I’ve been to plenty of shows during my short time on Earth. In that short time, I’ve seen a lot of superlatives. The most lasers, the biggest sound system, the most complicated lighting set up, blazing pyrotechnics, and some of the most elaborate stage setups in the world. 

The Rezz show on Halloween at the Armory didn’t earn any of those individual superlatives.

But superlatives don’t matter to a fantastic performance, they’re not needed when the show speaks for itself. Rezz’s performance did just that last night at the Armory. 

I’m in no way dissing anything I’ve attended in the past. In fact, those shows were great. I just feel I need to call out a full spectrum, thematic production like this one.

At the Oscars, no one really remembers the nominees for Best Cinematography or Best Costume Design. They remember Best Picture and Best Actor/Actress. This performance falls in the latter categories.

The Show Meant for Halloween

This show didn’t have the most lasers, but the way they were arranged enveloped Rezz and the stage in a cage of light. Most of the lighting was concentrated in a dodecagon (twelve-sided shape, you bet I looked it up) hoisted diagonally above the stage. It loomed over the stage, creating a variety of creative images, including portals, cages, and saucers. The screen backing Rezz featured her classic occult imagery with an additional screen which she played from. 

Rezz’s music sticks to a theme and does it exceptionally well. Each song features dark and distorted bass punctuated with biting drops and warped melodies. Musical themes and visuals of horror, the occult and surreal are the sprinkles on top. It’s a theme that is quite common in the death metal scene but in EDM is a very distinct rarity.

The cherry on top of this performance (after a fantastic set by Peekaboo) actually came at the very beginning Rezz wheeled out on a small tricycle dressed like Jigsaw’s puppet from Saw. Rezz opened up with the phrase “Wanna play a game?” and the show was off to a running start. Rezz took the stage, adjusted the setting on her iconic goggles, and really turned Halloween into the Blade vampire rave we all wish we were attending. Come to think of it, Marvel should really consider using Rezz tracks in their new Blade movie.

Occult EDM

This show was on Halloween, and it made the music and spectacle all that more special. Weird costumes spilled over the front fence when the crowd was riding the rail. The crowd was peppered with people doing their best Rezz impersonations, far more than last year’s edition. All of that, mixed with the dark distorted music and visuals, made it a semi-surreal audio-visual experience. The Armory was The Upside Down for one night.

Rezz ended up playing hits from all over her discography. New songs from her most recent release, Beyond the Senses, made prominent appearances throughout the performance. My personal favorite was “Falling,” which features Underoath singing an emo anthem. It’s just worked so well for a large crowd of fans singing along.

Old favorites like “Edge,” with that unmistakable Rezz staccato, “Spider on the Moon,” with its surreal visuals, and “Toxin,” with its dark vocals and hard drops, made appearances as well. Rezz’s new release, “Criminals,” with Malaa, witch technically debuted on the day of the show, also got a prominent feature. 

Finally, the show ended with a Rezz remix of “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine and got the crowd riled up one last time before it was time to go home.

666/13 Would Halloween with Rezz Again

It was one of those shows. I always think the best litmus test for a great show is me smiling. However, the condition for the smile is that it is not at a particular moment in the performance, but subconsciously, automatically, the kind of smile you catch yourself doing without realizing you started at all. I found myself doing that many times throughout the night.

Rezz chose Minneapolis again as her Halloween destination. I don’t know why. It could be our active EDM scene, it could be our love of music, our strong venues & promoters, or even our proximity to Canada. Who knows.

All I know is that Minneapolis was once again host to the queen of Halloween on Halloween day for the 3rd year in a row. While her show in 2018 was wonderful, the 2019 edition blew it out of the water. Rezz has grown immensely as an artist in the year since, and will likely continue to be a rising star, especially with her incredibly loyal following.

Here’s to hoping for another return of Rezz on the 31st of October, 2020. It’ll be your chance to witness one of the most unique acts in EDM right now and, of course, dress up in your spookiest costume.

Now everyone, just take a nice breath in. Exhale that breath. Just allow yourself now to relax more and more…….