Love was in the air in Phoenix as young couples descended on Arizona Financial Theatre to see Daniel Caesar, dressed in their Saturday night best on a Sunday. The R&B singer-songwriter is on his Superpowers World Tour and stopped in the Valley with Orion Sun for an evening of chilled-out bliss.
Orion Sun was all passion and smiles throughout her set, which drew from last year’s Getaway EP and 2020’s Hold Space for Me. With the minimal production — only her live band, who stayed mostly in the shadows — the focus was on her voice as she charmed the fans who had already arrived. Their cheers were appreciative but relatively quiet, and it wasn’t until the headlining set that it became clear why: This crowd was in anticipatory awe.
After the opening track “Ocho Rios” was performed in the dark, a white curtain descended around Daniel Caesar so only his silhouette appeared in the flashes of light. Thick smoke billowed across the stage and suddenly he was above the clouds with bright white light illuminating the room. Caesar’s dreamy vocals added more ethereality to the scene for “Let Me Go” and “Disillusioned” until the curtain rose again and fiery orange light replaced the celestial aesthetic.
Every moment of Caesar’s 23-song set was captured by at least two hundred people in the audience, and it was accompanied by just as many voices. (Gen Z seems unconcerned with having their own singing in the background of their videos.) The recording phones gave the whole crowd a faint blue light glow, especially during “Best Part” and “Japanese Denim” from his debut album Freudian.
The back half of the set was largely acoustic with stripped-down versions of “Pseudo,” “Horsepower,” and a cover of Coldplay’s “Yellow.” A sound system malfunction even led into an acoustic “Streetcar” with only Caesar’s guitar and vocals playing to the hushed crowd. That ethereal quality was back, and it closed out the warm, soulful performance like a lullaby.
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Story and photos by Taylor Knauf
