ODESZA @ Union Transfer.

Text and images by Holli Stephens.

ODESZA took over Union Transfer’s stage Wednesday evening, selling out two back-to-back shows at 8pm and 11pm.

Philly producer Louis Futon (Tyler Minford) kicked off the late night show on a loud note. Minford’s sound was a mixture of some of his key influences, like Cashmere Cat, Ta-Ku and Mr. Carmack. That satisfying blend on top of some popular trap-like sounds was both awakening and enticing. The crowd was pretty sparse at this point but nonetheless was feeling the groove. ROZES, also a native, accompanied Minford on his last couple of songs.

The intermission periods between each performance was quite short. As quickly as Louis Futon left the stage, Jai Wolf (Sajeeb Saha) appeared before the smokescreen-coated darkness. The NYC producer piggybacked off Minford’s energy. Union Transfer’s balcony section provided quite a view of the spectacle during a remix of Drake’s “Hotline Bling.” It was one of those one-of-a-kind moments when everyone in the crowd just lost it through dance. Jai Wolf also remixed a Purity Ring song before closing out with his most popular song, “Indian Summer.”

As Wednesday turned into Thursday, the stage crew started getting things set up for ODESZA. A slew of glovers entertained whoever would stop to watch as more young people wearing elephant pants and animal spirit hoodies appeared in the crowd.

ODESZA told the crowd that they had just got back from the desert and how awesome it was to be playing two shows in Philly. The Seattle duo, consisting of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, had a mirrored instrument set up of a controller and some drum equipment. A massive 5-panel visualizer rested behind them, as did as back-up trumpet, guitar and trombone players.

The set consisted entirely of crowd favorites, like their remix of Hayden James’ “Something About You” and a remix of ZHU’s “Faded.” The visualizer presented everything from experimental narratives of sepia-toned lovers to crazy colored patterns that danced across the screen.

ODESZA’s encore featured a very bass-heavy song as Godzilla knocked down buildings on the visualzer panels. The crowd was still dancing at 2am as the house lights turned back on.