On Thursday, July 21, 2022, the band Sawyer played their first Los Angeles headline at the Echo. Their opening act was rising indie-pop artist RYANN. The atmosphere in the Echo was calm. The room was illuminated purple with the exception of orange lights hitting the stage. The venue was not packed, people trickled in slowly and waited patiently waiting for the show to start.
The LA-based artist took the stage at 8:02 PM. She opened up her set with her 2020 single “Andrew.” Her voice is sweet and dreamy. The crowd swayed and bopped their heads along to her performance. After finishing “Andrew,” RYANN let the crowd know that Andrew actually broke her heart in the very room that we were standing in.
The second song that RYANN played was a song from her 2020 EP Emotions on Rollerskates, titled “Rollerskates.” It is impossible not to move your body to this song, which seems to be a recurring theme in RYANN’s music. A couple in the crowd swayed together to the catchy tune. After she finished the song, she spoke to the crowd some more. This time RYANN let the crowd know that this is her third live performance, to which the crowd cheered in response. She also addressed the dancing, explaining that she’s a “terrible dancer” but that the crowd should continue to feel free to dance along to the “dancey music.”
As the beginning chords of the next song, “JFK” played, it was obvious that this song was going to be a good one. The stage lights began to change colors as RYANN’s beautiful voice carried through the speakers.
The next song was a single off RYANN’s EP, titled “One Minute.” The upbeat song had sad lyrics but that did not stop a group of girls in the lively crowd from doing a silly dance along to the chorus. After each song, the crowd cheered for the New York-born artist. She took the opportunity after the song to introduce her band to the crowd and thank them. Her band includes guitarist Eliza and drummer Mano.
The fifth song on the setlist was RYANN’s latest single “Spilling.” This song was amazingly performed live. RYANN noticeably looked more comfortable on stage—in contrast to the nervous body language she held through the beginning of her set. During “Spilling,” she moved around the stage. What she lacked in dancing energy, she made up for in dialogue. After every song, RYANN made sure to talk to the crowd. After this song, she shared some animal facts with everyone. She said a couple of facts—all about otters—and then proceeded to the next song on her setlist.
The next song played was a cover of Post Malone’s “Circles.” She definitely did the 2019 hit song justice, taking a more gloomy approach than the original. With the slower beat, the crowd opted to sway along to RYANN and her smooth voice.
RYANN treated the crowd to an unreleased song titled “Trick Candle.” This song was catchy, much like her other songs, and easy to dance to. An exciting part of the song to look forward to is the instrumental solo that carried high energy that was fun to dance along to.
RYANN closed out her performance with a single that came out this year, “Last Call.” This song was a perfect closer to an amazing set. RYANN made sure to thank everyone including the venue, the headliners, and the crowd before she exited the stage.
It was around 20 minutes before the band Sawyer came on stage following Ryann’s performance, which was a pleasant surprise to those that were expecting a longer wait. By the time the headliners took the stage, the crowd seemed to grow a little more.
Sawyer started with their 2021 single “How Do You Know When It Feels Right.” Right off the bat, it was noticeable how comfortable they are with being on stage. The music was loud and their energy was captivating. Emma wore sunglasses on stage which gave a rockstar vibe to the concert. After the song, Kel and Emma talked about RYANN’s set to which they and the audience applauded. Kel informed the crowd that their pre-show group huddle included a message to Andrew. She also spoke about how the song got her through some tough times.
During the second song, Kel and Emma carried the energy by playing their instruments to each other face to face which was followed by cheers from the audience. After the song, the girls took the time to disclose to the audience that this was actually their first Los Angeles headlining performance and the crowd cheered for them.
Like RYANN, the band took the time to talk in between songs. After the third song on the setlist, “Unhealthy” their humor really started to shine through. Kel lead the conversations, and had a way of making the crowd crack up in laughter.
For the fourth song, both Kel and Emma took the time to teach the audience a little bit of some choreography to do for the pre-chorus. It took a minute for Kel, who was teaching, to figure out how to teach it facing the crowd using the opposite direction, but it made for some chuckles from everyone in attendance. They explained this as being a way to involve their audience in their show. The choreography was fun and simple and the entire crowd joined in.
Throughout their set, the music remained loud and the band maintained their energy and stage presence. Emma and Kel admitted to watching RYANN’s entire set and dancing around to her music. The lively crowd continued to dance around to the rest of Sawyer’s setlist, which included a new unreleased song titled “Colors” which they described to be “about adult bullying” and “Support Crew” which they wrote with Annika Bennett who was in attendance.
After closing out the show with a “newish” song that they have been teasing on TikTok, the band exited the stage. The audience responded with chants for one more song, which is all it took for Sawyer to run back onto stage to deliver an Encore. The girls then really closed out the show with “Emotional Girls” as their actual final song of the night.
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