By Alex Zuehlke<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If there\u2019s a right way to hold onto summer a little longer, it\u2019s seeing Royel Otis live. The Australian duo\u2014Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic\u2014brought their fun, sun-soaked energy to The Anthem on September 14th, somehow making a Sunday night in D.C. feel like a rooftop party in Sydney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opener, bby, came out first and immediately set the mood. bby is an indie band from East London, and their sound matched the vibe of the night perfectly\u2014catchy guitar parts, upbeat tempos, and a casual sort of charm that loosened the crowd up right away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Royel Otis finally took the stage, the lights dimmed, and the massive screen behind them began to flash lyrics, short clips, and trippy visuals. The production wasn\u2019t overdone, but rather just enough to add to the atmosphere. The screen behind the band added a kind of hazy, nostalgic mood to everything as it cycled through old video clips and text walls. It matched their sound perfectly, reminding me of flipping through old summer photos you forgot existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The duo opened with \u201cAdored,\u201d and from there, the set never really slowed down. Their sound feels even punchier live than it does on the record, as if every song wants to pull you into motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They played a selection from Hickey<\/em>, the album they released in August, and mixed in some older fan favorites too, like \u201cOysters in My Pocket\u201d and \u201cSofa King.\u201d I was just as impressed with the audience as I was with the band; the energy was electric as the crowd sung every word to their hits and danced carefree. These days, concerts are often filled with a sea of cellphones, recording every second of the show for Instagram stories. However, the Royel Otis show was relatively technology-free, underscoring the summery, \u201clive in the moment\u201d vibe that their music gives off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then came the last song before the encore, which ended up being my favorite part of the show. Instead of going back to the main stage, Royel Otis reappeared on a small platform near the back of the venue. The crowd turned around, and suddenly the Anthem felt like a tiny, intimate venue. They played their cover of The Cranberries\u2019 \u201cLinger,\u201d and it was gorgeously soft and far more stripped back than the rest of their set. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t go into this concert expecting much, but Royel Otis completely won me over. Their music is fun, warm, and weirdly comforting, and live, it just clicks. By the time I walked out, sweaty and smiling, I realized I\u2019d found a new favorite band, something that I\u2019ve kept returning to as summer slips away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Alex Zuehlke If there\u2019s a right way to hold onto summer a little longer, it\u2019s seeing Royel Otis live. The Australian duo\u2014Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic\u2014brought their fun, sun-soaked energy to The Anthem on September 14th, somehow making a Sunday night in D.C. feel like a rooftop party in Sydney. The opener, bby, came out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgetownradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgetownradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgetownradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgetownradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgetownradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgetownradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgetownradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions\/90"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgetownradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgetownradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgetownradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}