In an act of group catharsis, ericdoa brought his Dead on Arrival Tour to a hyped up crowd at Crescent Ballroom on Saturday. The kids may not always be alright, but ericdoa’s music has clearly impacted his audience in a profound way and the nearly sold out show felt more like a release.
Collaborator and friend Bixby opened the show with his own spin on the Soundcloud-esque hybrid of hyperpop and hip hop that’s been dominating Gen-Z playlists these last several years. Bixby had his own crew of diehard fans in the audience and they threw keychains and photocards towards the stage. Despite the more melancholy tone of Bixby’s music, he performed his short yet dynamic set with a huge grin on his face. His performance of unreleased track “desire” got a huge response from the fans before he closed things out with “endlessly”.
Ericdoa came onstage draped in a towel and backed by a live band to massive cheers from the packed room. From our observation point at the top of the bleachers, the crowd appeared to move as one, roiling back and forth with the beat and jumping in unison when prompted. As is typical of the genre, ericdoa’s songs were staccato bursts of sound, but tracks like “dancingwithsomebawdy” and “fool4love” kept everyone dancing.
He spoke to the fans between songs, encouraging them to beat the previous city in energy levels and Phoenix did their very best to deliver. By the end of the show, ericdoa and the audience we both drenched in sweat despite the winter chill outside and even a 22-song setlist didn’t seem like enough.
Crescent Ballroom had one more chance to shake the floor as the show ended with “fantasize” and “movinglikeazombie”. As ericdoa continues to tour and secure huge opening slots, these intimate shows are on the verge of exploding into even bigger venues and success for the burgeoning star. With the amount of energy exchanged between the stage and the crowd, we’ll be expecting that to happen incredibly soon- and it will be well-deserved for this community.
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Story and photos by Olivia Khiel
