📍 Stubb’s Amphitheater — Sept. 20, 2025
Written by Krysta Ayers

On any given Saturday night, Austin’s Red River district is swollen with live music at teeming venues, but that was especially so last Saturday for Royel Otis. For night one in Austin of Royel Otis’s Meet me in the Car tour (to play their new album, hickey), Stubb’s seemed to have successfully bat-signaled every fan in the area; it was a sold-out show.

The line wrapped around the venue even after the doors had opened an hour prior, and the supporting band, an excellent London-based indie rock band called bby, were a good deal into their set before the rest of the fans were inside.

Based in Sydney, Australia, Royel Otis is a duo of Otis Pavlovic and Royel Maddell, touring with Tim Ayre on keyboards and Tim Commandeur on drums. The large screen behind them was their sole stage decor, and it displayed various statements and demands: “(this is a song about being homesick),” “MOODY,” “(dance with the person standing next to you).” They hardly needed to tell the crowd anything since they responded of their own volition with scream-singing, dancing, and cheers.

The band played “Headed for the Door,” from their 2024 album, PRATTS & PAIN, and the catchy tune “Kool Aid” from 2023’s Sofa Kings album. For a relatively “new” band (they started in 2019), they are tight with their live playing; they have carved out a cool synth-pop-indie rock sound that would be appreciated by anyone who loves Phoenix, The Drums, or The Beaches.

Off their new album, they played tracks like “who’s your boyfriend,” “car,” “moody,” and “come on home”—a forlorn tune asking a lover to not let it be over, they’ll be waiting. Pavlovic’s voice is almost whisper sweet, like he’s beckoning the crowd to get closer for a better listen. Maddell hides behind his long blonde hair, apparently a signature move for the man of mystery. He lets his guitar skills be the star.

Airing out their woes about love in these new (and old) songs, the duo also included the covers that launched them onto our radars: “Linger” from The Cranberries, that they slowed down and made more melancholic stripped down to Maddell’s guitar and Pavlovic’s breathy vocals, and “Murder on the Dance Floor,” by Sophie Ellis-Bexter that keeps the dance-centric vibe of the original with more kick drum and snazzy guitar for effect.

My (humble) belief is that if a band can sound just as good as their recorded album, they’ve got talent deserving of a multi-city tour. And if they sound even better when they’re live, then you need to drop everything to experience the magic first-hand, because that band was made for a live show; in their most raw form, they are at their best.

That’s the case for Royel Otis. They’ve brought their personal brand of indie-rock to the States, and the world, and everyone should see them live.