Review and photos by Patti Doud.
April 28, 2024 – Columbus, OH
On a sunny, 70 degree day, where round cotton clouds hung lazily above our heads, my friends nursed their hangovers with sunglasses and New York Times word puzzles. I leaned in to the the sun like growing plant, while our conversations of Beerlympics, post-graduation plans and reviews of recent dates were backed by Royel Otis’s soundcheck. A perfect Saturday for catching an indoor/outdoor show, grabbing a tallboy, and letting the music memorialize this moment in our lives.
To set up the laidback scene of the day, we arrived only two hours before doors and made ourselves comfortable next to the small handful of excited Royel Otis fans. We watched nosily while the opener, Girl and Girl (who was surprisingly not a girl band), unloaded their van right in front of us and prepared for their set.
Girl and Girl blew our expectations out of the water. While the sun set behind the open garage doors, which connected the small bar interior with the open patio, the lead singer warbled spoken word stories in unreleased songs. The narrative style songs, combined with a dauntless vibrato and twitchy jumping play style, made it hard to look away. I felt fully emerged in the indie rock scene, transfixed on the performance ahead.
As someone who often attends shows, it is pretty hard to make me feel starstruck. However, as Royel, Otis and the rest of their live band walked on, I felt a brief shiver of excitement that only an electric atmosphere can cause.
During the set, a crowd member shouted out “O-H!”, which everyone promptly should out their own “I-O” in response. This is a typical Columbus crowd, as this is a chant done for the Ohio State University ten minutes down the road from the show. Even in school when I was a kid, we would execute these silly chants to the point where it’s a knee-jerk reaction to respond.
The bands laughed and called it a cool party trick, while sprinkling in their own “O-H” calls between their songs (where they would soon after giggle to each other like a little boy discovering a new toy). It took a few tries and an explanation that the chant is the letters “O-H”, and not “oh hey!”, though it was mostly their accents that made it sound like the latter.
After laughing, dancing, sweating, and watching in a slight daze that an indie pop concert should be experienced in, we waited after the show for merch. The cool and friendly crowd members around me helped me decide between the merch options (one boy said the white and blue flowery shirt was “my vibe”, while a girl in front of us said the brown shirt was a nice change of pace. I went with the black hoodie, so sorry to them).
Both bands hung around, taking photos with everyone and chatting. They graciously signed my vinyl while I chatted their ears off about Australia. My friend Cassie made fun of me for asking, “Are squirrels a novelty sighting for you? The spiders in Australia look scary.”
It was a perfect show on a shining spring day that’s well burned into my memory. That day feels like the perfect transition into summer, representing a new phase of our lives after college that feels easy, warm, generous. I’m incredibly thankful to Royel Otis for putting on such an amazing show that will stick with me for a while.
Listen to the opener, Girl and Girl, and connect with them on social media. Give Royel Otis a listen to learn why I love them as much as I do, and keep updated on their fun daily content on socials!