Odesza's Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight perform at Auckland's St James. Photo/Aaron Moffitt
Odesza's Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight perform at Auckland's St James. Photo/Aaron Moffitt
Opinion
Auckland's St James Theatre faced its first true test since re-opening with a sold out show by electronic act Odesza. How did it fare? Chris Schulz was there.
It's the smell that hits you first, a musty, dusty odour reminiscent of a museum.
Then the memories coming flooding back, of all those nights spent at Auckland's St James Theatre either moshing in the front rows, dancing down on the floor, or relaxing back in one of the venue's seated top tiers.
Yes, everyone has their own favourite St James moment: mine is seeing The Strokes perform there during their peak in 2006 and barely blinking during a sold out show that had John Campbell rocking out down the back, black suit, briefcase and all.
The central city venue has been mothballed since 2007 but recently re-opened and faced its first big test on Friday night with a sold out set by sunny Seattle act Odesza, a quickfire return visit after their sweaty debut at the King's Arms in January.
Yes, Odesza had quite the job ensuring the venue's legacy remained intact - as well as the venue itself, which infamously started falling to pieces during an extremely loud opening set by The Mint Chicks while opening for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in 2006.
But the two proved to be a perfect pairing. Backed by glowing visuals of glistening beaches and giant waves, Odesza delivered a slice of Coachella-style festival action in a set that kicked off summer in style and left stupid grins on the faces of everyone who was there.
Odesza's Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight perform at Auckland's St James. Photo/Aaron Moffitt
True, there's a simple formula to Odesza's electro-pop style: start with a simple melody, build it up into a decent groove then explode with a rush of sugary synths and tribal drumming. Songs like Bloom and Sundara certainly stay true to that, but gave punters in the front rows plenty of reasons to wave their glowsticks around.
But, from the opening explosion of Koto, it proved to be a trick that isn't yet getting old, with a set that mixed in highlights from their two albums, with some of the night's best moments coming from recent record In Return's vocal tracks It's Only, Say My Name and All We Need.
Odesza weren't afraid to drop in new tracks: their grinding remix of ZHU's Faded was one of the night's highlights, as was a recent reworking of Porter Robinson's Divinity, that only dropped last week and might be their finest moment yet.
Odesza's Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight perform at Auckland's St James. Photo/Aaron Moffitt
Then there was their horn-drenched blast of Alex Adair's Make Me Feel Better that served as a potent encore and showed that next time Odesza are here, they might very well be headlining an outdoor music festival like Rhythm & Vines or the recently announced Auckland City Limits.
It gave the venue's shuddering floorboards one final workout and proved that if the St James can stand up to this, it can surely stand up to anything.
Who: Odesza Where: St James Theatre, Auckland When: Friday, September 25
