How Royel Otis transformed the Columbiahalle into an exuberant indie party – our follow-up report.
What happened on the stage of the Columbiahalle in Berlin for 70 minutes on November 18th is almost impossible to explain using the vocabulary that the German language has to offer. The Australian music duo Royel Otis, consisting of guitarist Royel Madell and lead singer Otis Pavlovic, is delivering a show in the capital this evening that will probably be unrivaled for ages.
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The gig between the two friends, who met in a bar in Sydney, begins incredibly calmly. One in loose jeans, the other in sweatpants – this is how Royel Otis enter the stage as if they were just shaking the upcoming performance off their sleeves without any worries. From this moment on it’s clear: these guys know what they’re doing – and they do it without any airs and graces.
Drunk pop-punk inspires Berlin
Together with her band, consisting of a drummer and an extremely motivated virtuoso on keyboard and synthesizer, the first notes sound in Berlin-Tempelhof with “I hate this tune”. “(this is royel otis live)” appears on the screen of the stage set, and by now every spectator should know where they are. After just a few chords played and lines sung, the most impressive realization of the evening follows: the duo sounds almost identical live to their studio recordings.
While the band’s genre can be classified somewhere between indie pop and indie rock, Royel Otis describe their sound more as “drunken pop-punk” that is intended to convey a nostalgic feeling. And they definitely succeed! Everything is easy, everything is carefree and yet so real and authentic – if that doesn’t matter to you, you were definitely in the wrong place. For the track “Heading For The Door” the entire crowd is bathed in pink light and now the words “(meet me in berlin)” read on the LED screen behind the band setup. It will become clear later that this screen will play a special role.
Reaching into the bag of tricks
This is followed by an energetic mix of older and new songs such as “who’s your boyfriend”, “Kool Aid” and “Foam” before the boys perform a number of tracks from their second album “hickey”. Each song is explained individually on the screen so that it is clear to everyone what each song is about. According to the band themselves, “shut up” seems to be about not wanting a person to leave, because in the background it says: “(this is a song about not wanting someone to leave)”. On “Come on Home” lead singer Otis Pavlovic digs deep into his bag of vocal tricks, skillfully presents his higher vocal range and gives the fans a brief moment to breathe deeply. Up to this point, standing still at this concert was simply not an option – as was the case with the performance that the band delivered on stage.
Royel Otis shows us: This is how concerts work!
For a moment it becomes a little quieter as the band plays their track “jazz burger” and the hall is bathed in a sea of flashlights – or at least it tries to be. With the number of lights, the whole thing looks more like a small pond instead of the Atlantic or Pacific. What runs through Royel Otis’ performance up to this point – and beyond – is the unobtrusive, calm and at the same time incredibly natural way of performing a concert, which couldn’t be more authentic.
Between gentle sounds, sometimes scrappy guitar sounds, impressive drum solos and a master on the keyboard instruments, there is a show that you have never seen before. The fact that one of their most famous songs is not their own, but a cover version of “Linger” by The Cranberries doesn’t seem to bother the Australians, because this song also made it onto the set list of the “meet me in the car” tour. As the first few chords are played, the words “(help us sing this song)” appear on the LED screen, and the crowd doesn’t have to say it twice. The entire Columbiahalle sings the classic with soul, while swaying tirelessly from left to right and right to left.
When watching becomes togetherness
But the swaying turns into exuberant dancing in a millisecond when Royel Otis finally puts the crown on their show. Suddenly the gig turns into a participatory concert during “I Wanna Dance With You”. “(dance with the person next to you)” and “(put your hands in the air)” appear as requests on the screen, shortly before the audience is asked not only to stretch their arms in the air, but also to move them ecstatically. A wish that the band definitely doesn’t want to or can’t deny.
Tracks like “Fried Rice” and “Bull Breed” follow, making it impossible to stand still for even a moment. After “say something”, a song from their second album, the boys leave the stage, but it is clear: that wasn’t the end. Many cheers and clapping hands later, Royel Otis enters the stage again and performs her most famous piece, “Oysters In My Pocket”, which creates a kind of euphoria one last time that makes you wish this evening never ends. Rarely has a band managed to bring such a feeling of carefreeness and freedom not only onto the stage, but also into the bodies of the fans. So there is only one thing left – to thank you from the bottom of your heart for this performance. Royel Otis, it was a celebration!