Tycho at Showbox SoDo 3/18
Editor’s note: We had the distinct pleasure of covering both Showbox locations in one night, with the other being the Bayside 15th Birthday tour at the Market. The following show review is from Andrew Mwangi, a good friend of ours and a great PNW photographer. If you like what you see, hit him up on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram. -AC
If I could describe the Tycho show in one word it would be “hypnotizing.” As cliché as that sounds, from the lights, the crowd, and the production, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING just blew me away. Opening up with “PBS” you could just feel the energy from the crowd radiating through the whole venue.
Going from the dim sunset logo to a bright, psychedelic atmosphere, the mood was set for the rest of the night. Flowing from song to song, the lighting helped deliver that extra flare to each song that just made the show that much more enjoyable for everyone. I’ll be honest: taking photos during the show was an absolute nightmare with the constantly changing light. I would get perfect lighting where the whole band was evenly exposed, then the next second it would go dark, then back to super bright, in-your-face kinda light. I have to respect whoever was in charge of the lights though. As a viewer you can’t help but stare and take the whole experience in.
Tycho has been a band I’ve been following for quite some time now. They have been the definition of chill wave music to me, loaded with atmosphere and feel good vibes. Seeing them live, you just have to get up and move. Tycho really delivers music that’s festival worthy. Listening back to the few videos I recorded during the show and seeing the crowd move in sync with the music and swaying was truly something to witness.
From Dive back in 2011 to many of the new songs from Awake, Tycho’s sound was filled with tight instrumental groove, twinkling guitar rifts, crisp drums, and what really stood out to me: the bass. Super groovy with great tones, I still can’t describe it any other way than hypnotizing. After the set was done they returned for an encore and played 4 extra songs! Starting from a remix and eventually ending the night with “Awake”, it was truly a one of a kind experience.
