ODESZA member Harrison Mills runs the boards during their concert at Crescent Ballroom in downtown Phoenix on Sept. 23, 2014. The Seattle-based duo performed in front of a sold-out crowd. (Photo by: Fabian Ardaya)The electronic dance music craze has hit in big in downtown Phoenix, with ODESZA being the next in line of great artists to make their way to the desert.
In front of a sold-out, intimate Crescent Ballroom on the corner of 2nd Avenue and Van Buren, the Seattle-based duo of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight rocked the stage with its unique blend of percussion and electronic dance mixes.
ODESZA is in the midst of its In Return tour. The first seven concerts are already sold out, with tickets going for as high as $220 online. The tour also features popular opening acts Hayden James and Ambassadeurs.
Ambassadeurs got the show off to a great start with its series of mixes, which featured great vocals overlapped with deep bass drops that lit up the lively crowd. The soothing tunes managed to set up the tempo for the following act while also including unique aspects such as bongo drums.
The main act did not disappoint, playing many tunes from its 2013 release "My Friends Never Die," as well as its newest release, "In Return," which came out earlier this month.
After opening its act with a few smooth, clean tracks, ODESZA brought the house down with arguably its biggest hit to date, “Keep Her Close.”
The duo gave the audience no break, as they followed it up with the title track “My Friends Never Die”, inducing crowd-surfing in an intense, united atmosphere.
After wrapping up its set with a series of action-packed, deep-hitting tracks, ODESZA was just about everything that I imagined it to be: unique, loud and entertaining.
That was, until I realized that it wasn't done.
After an “ODESZA” chant echoed throughout Crescent Ballroom, Mills and Knight came out and rocked the house yet again with the hit “FADED” and “Say My Name (ft. Zyra)” from its latest album.
This performance just might have topped the charts in my book. Their blend of music was unique, their delivery superb, and the overall experience memorable.
The next stop on ODESZA’s In Return tour is on Sept. 25, at the Vulcan Gas Company in Austin, Texas.
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @fardaya15
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
