Sloss Artist Spotlight: Is The ODESZA Live Band Here to Stay?!
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Sloss Artist Spotlight: Is The ODESZA Live Band Here to Stay?!

ODESZA’s drumline has been making waves since the duo premiered the addition of live instruments at Coachella in 2015. Prior to Coachella, ODESZA, compromised of Washington state natives Harrison and Clayton, played solo with their drum pads at small venues around the United States.

The boys continued to incorporate live aspects post-Coachella for major sets, including LollapaloozaRed Rocks, Vertex, and other festivals. The live instruments were not utilized for every song, but a select few that totally enhanced the listening experience: “Bloom”, “Iplayyoulisten”, and the legendary “Make Me Feel Better (ODESZA Remix)” encore.

ODESZA changed the live music game by reaching out to local colleges in the cities that they were performing in. At Coachella 2015, the USC drum line joined. At Lollapalooza 2015, the Chicago Bull Stampede Drumline joined the boys who completed the vibes with Chicago Bulls jerseys.

During their headlining stop at Vertex Music Festival in Buena Vista, Colorado (2016), the Colorado Symphony and CU drumline stole the show; which showed the boys had no plans of cutting out the live instrument addition any time soon.

Fans love the live aspect, this much is obvious.

What changed the game and set the pace for 2017 was ODESZA’s performance at Day for Night Festival in Houston, Texas. A guitarist had been used occasionally for past sets, but had a major presence at DFN. They not only debuted the frequent appearance of a guitarist during a set, but a brand new intro and two other new songs as well – songs which would later be released/played at Red Rocks 2017.

Fast-forward to their epic sold out 2-night Red Rocks event last month.

ODESZA entered the stage with a guitarist smack in the middle and trumpets on either side of them, amplifying their sound and making the rocks shake. There was something different though. Those on stage felt much more official than just snagging a local colleges’ drumline/band to play a song or two.

Their Red Rocks performance made it obvious that the boys had progressed from utilizing college drumlines to an official ODESZA drumline, plus live horns and a guitarist.

The drumline stole the show; complete with synchronized choreography from eight different people.

In a thread on the ODESZA Reddit page, talks about the drumline being official were mentioned, along with conversation about the potential of their appearance at ODESZA’s upcoming Electric Forest set this weekend.

“I cannot confirm nor deny if there will be a drum line…”

The response by an unnamed, reliable source leads to optimistic answers of YES, the drumline will be in appearance for Electric Forest, and future shows.

After Electric Forest, the boys will be making trips to Kentucky for Forecastle Fest and Alabama for Sloss Music & Arts Festival.

Here is to hoping and wishing that the band + drumline makes an appearance at these stops, because everyone deserves a little ODESZA magic complete with an epic drumline at least once in their lives.

Featured photo by Julian Bajsel.

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