Music-lovers of Leeds traded their Sunday evening of being Sofa Kings, to rocking out with Aussie indie dreamboats, Royel Otis.
To say this gig had high expectations is an understatement. This show had been on my radar as early as May 2024. December seemed like an impossibly far time into the future, yet here we are at Leeds Stylus watching Royel Otis bring their shoegaze magic to life.
Paying homage to their motherland of Australia, the backdrop adorned with a gigantic shrimp and the band looked like they should have arrived on skateboards (complimentary).
Royel Otis (who were given their catchy name from bandmates, Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic) burst onto everyone’s screens from their Tripple J “Like A Version”, cover of Sophie Ellis Bextor’s Murder on the Dance Floor. It was undoubtedly a song of the summer, perfectly timed with the original’s resurrection and with a funky guitar feel to it “indie sleeze” was back BIG TIME.
After being hooked by their ability to cover a song from 2001, in 2024….. but somehow make it feel like it was the golden era of indie 2010s, I knew I needed to listen to more. Oysters in my Pocket was their next hit and hearing this live was brilliant. I binged their roster of music on Spotify on a train to London back in May and Oysters in my Pocket was on a constant loop.
Their tracks sound like driving on a long country road on a summer’s day. The fast drum beats, chant-like vocals and funky bass lines transcribe perfectly live. Even though it was freezing outside, Leeds Stylus was warm from the sheer energy of the people inside.
Royel Otis have a choke hold on the music scene – they sold out their entire UK/EU tour, with videos on social media of people lining the streets to be the first in the venues. Let’s put some emphasis here on how impressive that is considering they’re based on the other side of the world. The show held no small talk, no gushing over how grateful they were to be here. Royel Otis really personified the cool band by letting the music do the talking, and it felt like time flew by.
This wasn’t a gig where you felt “left out” for not knowing every line to every track. Royel Otis created a fun and entertaining atmosphere with the perfectly paced setlist subtly showing how strong their presence is felt in the music scene. In fact, if I was to change one thing about this show it’s that it should have been in a bigger venue. Like seeing Olivia Dean at Stylus, we will look back and be glad we saw them in such an intimate setting.
Having solidified themselves as masters of cover songs, Royel Otis slowed it down for their encore. Eager-eared listeners will have caught the track from the first guitar note, but if you needed more time, the full crowd singing along (with harmonies) to Linger by The Cranberries was enough to jog your memory. Being brought up on the 90’s classic, it’s lovely to hear a new spin on the track that still captures its beauty and heartbreak.
This genre and style of music really excites me, “They sound like when Jaws, Swim Deep and Peace first burst onto the gig scene” is a text I sent to my brother telling him to listen to Kool Aid. Royel Otis were able to bring a show to Leeds Stylus that featured grunge, picky guitar lines with indie vocals, like you’d hear at house parties at university, but with a full production and excellent sound quality. We were shocked at how well it sounded. Emphasis was put on just the right spots throughout tracks that showed they were more than ready to dominate the stages and cities they graced with their presence.
If you want to dip your toes into the world of Royel Otis (even though I personally would recommend just diving straight in) personal favourites other than the tracks already mentioned in this article include If Our Love Is Dead, Heading for the Door (which was their opening track; the synth reminds me of old school Maccabees/Foals) and…Oysters in my Pocket because it’s just that good. Slap it on a coming-of-age movie soundtrack NOW.
Fingers are crossed for lots of UK festival slots for Royel Otis in 2025, and when they are, be sure to catch them.
www.royelotis.com
Photography by Emma Gibbon.
