Owl City at The Gothic Theatre with Rozzi Crane

Ryan Anderson at Foundations Music was kind enough to set us up with a photo pass to see Owl City at The Gothic Theatre with Rozzi Crane on Monday, October 19. As with all our concert reviews, we take photos, talk about the show, and promote the artists. That is, of course, if they’re cool. Unfortunately, we sometimes pass on coverage after a show. Maybe their photo contract stinks or they don’t play a show worth reviewing. Thankfully, watching Owl City at The Gothic Theatre was awesome. Rozzi Crane opened the show with some mad vocals, and Owl City rocked out. We’re glad we were there, but let’s get to the artists.

Rozzi Crane at The Gothic Theatre

Rozzi Crane was great. Her powerful, bluesy/soul vocals were amazing but hard to define. She doesn’t fit into a single genre. I’d say she’s a blend of Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, and Idina Menzel. Her vocal gymnastics were on point for the whole set. She was also really good at working the crowd. Most new artists have awful stage presence… not Rozzi. I enjoyed her playfulness; it made it very easy to like her.

Apparently, Adam Levine likes her too. He signed her as the first artist on his new record label: 222 Records. Rozzi Crane’s music is available on Spotify right now. If you like her sound, snag her new EP to show her some support.

Owl City at The Gothic Theatre

Watching Owl City at The Gothic Theatre was a month-long highlight for me. I’d easily place OC in my top ten favorite artists right now. This was my first time seeing him/them in concert. It was great to finally put faces to the sounds I’ve been enjoying for years. Outside of Adam, I wasn’t familiar with the rest of the touring band. Owl City is just Adam Young, but he brings other musicians along for the tour. The bassist and drummer go uncredited on Wikipedia’s touring members list, but I was able to find them through social media. Playing keyboards and singing backing vocals for this tour is Breanne Düren. Jasper Nephew held down the guitar riffs. Gabriel Hagen smashed the drums. Rob Morgon slapped the bass. They all worked together in perfect union to create the live sound that is Owl City.

I’m blown away by the musicianship of these artists. Each does their own thing in their off time, so be sure to check them out individually. The Owl City sound is grounded in electronic pop. Moving that into live audio without relying solely on backing tracks is assuredly difficult. But you know what? I didn’t care. I enjoyed every second of the show. It was awesome to hear melodies — that I know Adam played on a keyboard for the album — played live on a guitar. The live drums also added a dimension of sound that an electronica beat can’t reproduce. Dare I say that I enjoyed watching Owl City at The Gothic Theatre more than listening to one of Adam’s albums? Yes, I think that’s what happened. Please don’t get me wrong: I love electronica, and all Adam’s albums are worth buying… but I enjoyed the live version of the band a lot. That said, I highly recommend checking him out on Spotify. If you like his music, hit the Amazon link and buy his latest album, Mobile Orchestra.

Salt Lake City, you’re the next stop on the tour. The show starts in a couple hours. Don’t miss it. Check out the other tour dates.