ARMNHMR stopped in the Pacific Northwest last weekend for their debut album tour. Both Portland and Seattle sold out the shows, and the California-based duo added a second Seattle date to accommodate the ticket demand. Vancouver B.C. is also looking forward to a taste of the quickly rising talent on March 21st. We were lucky enough to catch them at 45 East in Portland and enjoyed a great night of future bass. Check out our review of the show below.
Lione: the ideal opener
Even though The Free World Tour enjoys a variety of openers, each is a great performer and Lione is no exception. Right off the bat, Lione warmed up the crowd and had everyone’s energy high just minutes into the set. While being recognized most easily for his lighthearted, high pitch melodic songs, he dropped an equal amount of heavier bass. In a combination reminiscent of K?D or Porter Robinson’s glitchier style, Lione closed as the crowd felt fueled for the headliner.
The Free World’s captivating sound
As expected on a debut album tour, they featured most tracks from The Free World. Opening as the album does with Forever Young, and closing similarly with Infinite, the show bore a sense of closure. Picking on album-wide themes of complex relationships and vulnerable emotions, witnessing it live felt like collective therapy. Silver Living, in particular, felt like an emotional high point in the show, although it’s impossible to choose just one.
Older ARMNHMR singles, influential future bass tracks included
Of the seats at the table for future bass, ARMNHMR’s had been secured from their earliest tracks. Including Leave It All, Farewell (with both phenomenal drops), and their remix of The Chainsmokers’ Inside Out, we felt impressed all over again hearing these live. Forging a new creative sound, they have a clear grip and vision on what direction they take as artists.
While including some of their first singles, the duo also threw in some widely popular and recognized future bass songs. We heard classics Disarm You, Slander’s Love is Gone, Said the Sky’s All I Got, and Gryffin’s All You Need to Know. Using their own spin, each of their singles and samples fit to create a truly unique set.
The bigger picture: something for the whole crowd
One thing that stood out the most throughout ARMNHMR’s hour and forty-minute long set was, ironically, the consistency in their variety. In this case, an almost entirely seamless transition between styles of music flowed through the whole set. Holding the melodic and vibrant tone while moving from a few songs of trap to house, to dubstep, to future bass left everyone excited for the next drop.
We’ll definitely be on the lookout for more from ARMNHMR in the future. After this tour, we can’t wait to see where they grow and develop as artists. If anything is clear from The Free World tour, it’s that ARMNHMR has much more in store for both older and newer fans going forward.
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