PHOTOS: ODESZA at Union Transfer

Photo by Jonathan Gipaya Photography

Confession: ODESZA is my go-to for both pump-up jams while I’m getting ready for a night out and chill tunes for zoning out on my long train home every day. There are few music artists who can play both roles, and this duo does it to perfection. I had some pretty high hopes for last night’s concert, and ODESZA blew them out of the water.

I’m not sure what I was expecting — a Coachella-esque feel, teens moshing, perhaps? That was certainly the vibe I was getting from the crowd outside Union Transfer beforehand in their booty shorts and headbands, at 7 pm on a Wednesday. (Don’t these kids have school in the morning?) Thankfully, those of us over 21 split off upon entering into a bar area that leads to the upper deck of the venue. If you’ve never been to Union Transfer, this place is off-the-charts as far as concert spaces go. Remnants of this train station’s former life provide grandiose details of a bygone era: soaring beamed ceilings, ornate lighting fixtures, and a pair of squid chandeliers over the bar. Although, you’d never know it when the lights go down and all eyes are on the stage.

The openers kept the vibe pretty low-key, mixing chilled-out tunes with steady beats. After Kaibo’s short set wrapped up, Jai Wolf amped up the crowd’s energy, ending with “Indian Summer” (which I’d never heard before but shazamed immediately). It was just enough to get your body moving but leave you longing for the headliner’s signature pulsing bass.

Photo by Jonathan Gipaya Photography

ODESZA came onstage at 8:30 and took us on a colorful, thrumming sensory ride for the next hour and a half. The stage setup was a symmetrical half-circle with two turntables at the front, floor drums to the outside, and at the perimeter, surprisingly, a trombone and trumpet player. The show opened with the brass horns blaring, and lights blasting into the crowd. The Seattle duo made their way on stage with drumsticks as the music built, and wailed on the drums as the beat dropped and the lights burst to life.

It was awesome.

For the rest of the show, the two moved in synchronization from drums to DJ decks and back, with the horns flitting in and out of the perimeter in moments I never realized featured actual instruments. It was almost as if the two sides of the stage were mirroring each other, with silhouetted instruments and players moving almost identically.

The visuals to the show were stunning. After the mellowed-out openers, who kept a only low, purple spotlight light on themselves, ODESZA’s exploding colors and lights were striking. They didn’t blare your usual EDM lights and lasers everywhere; instead, huge LED panels were rolled out behind the set. As the songs moved from low rolling beats to body-rocking jams you can’t not dance to, a crafted stream of images and designs ebbed and flowed on the background screens like a giant screensaver (but much more thoughtful and cool).

Photo by Jonathan Gipaya Photography

The songs eventually worked their way to absolute jams like “Memories That You Call,” where the crowd went nuts — at least, as wild as you can get to a slower house beat. Happily up above with a Stella in hand, I watched the people downstairs thrumming to the music in sync, taken by the moment. The balcony crowd was more of a mixed bag, with a few diehards sprinkled in, many bemused semi-fans, and quite a few dads, alone. When I stopped dancing to look around at the over-21 crowd, I had a pang of longing to be downstairs in the sweaty, pulsing crowd — just for a minute.

Until the show last night, I never realized how prevalent Indian music elements are in ODESZA’s songs. Super high female vocals and tribal-feeling beats coupled with visuals that hinted at temples and Holi dust made me want to dance like that chick MØ in the “Lean On” music video. The Seattle duo must have taken a trip to India together, because song after song felt brilliantly inspired by it.

Of course, they held out on the much-anticipated “Say My Name” until the encore, which brought down the house, sending moshing teens and single dads alike into a dancing, singing, can’t-feel-my-face frenzy. And then they exited the stage to get ready for the late show.

Photo by Jonathan Gipaya Photography