Caroline Chang
What was a gloomy start to a cold May week for most Angelinos was a sunlit surf-rock celebration for the handful of lucky fans that managed to snag tickets to one of Royel Otis’s intimate shows at the Troubadour, Monday, May 5, and Tuesday, May 6.
About a month ago, alternative indie-pop duo Royel Otis wiped their entire Instagram clean and made a single post — a grey background with pink text reading, “this is a poster telling you that we are playing shows at the troubadour on may 5th and 6th.” This simple message sent a wave of anticipation across their worldwide fanbase that carried us all the way to West Hollywood last night to check it out.
Packed into one of Los Angeles’s oldest and most iconic live music venues, Royel Otis fans repping band merch baby tees and their unbreakable smiles filled the room with palpable excitement as the clock ticked towards showtime. The duo, composed of Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic, sold the 500-cap venue out with instantaneous ease. High on the band’s promises to premiere new music and eager for the first taste of their new single “moody,” set to drop this Friday, May 9, the room vibrated as we all waited for the Australian up-and-comers to take the stage.
A small LED strip spelled out one-liners as a backdrop all night, starting with “(this is a royel otis show at the troubadour in los angeles)” and then carrying on to messages, observations, and even friendly commands for the audience as the guitar-driven duo jammed out on stage. Reminiscent of messaging from The Black Keys’s “Brothers” era, the very matter-of-fact yet aesthetic statements echoed the tone of their recent social posts and overall slightly mysterious image.
Royel Otis at the Troubadour, Tuesday, May 6, 2025 (Caroline Chang @carochangcreative)
The intentional simplicity really pushes their music to the forefront and leaves their individual personas more hidden — in Maddell’s case, literally hidden by his hair. The little screen read “(dance with the person next to you)” during their upbeat tune “I Wanna Dance With You” and displayed karaoke-style lyrics for the band’s most popular sun-soaked summer anthem “Oysters in My Pocket.” Not that anyone needed it though, you literally couldn’t stop that crowd from singing and dancing the entire 60-minute set if you tried.
This little pair of headlining nights in WeHo kicks off Royel Otis’s return to live shows following a brief few months on break. In 2024, Royel Otis brought their debut album “PRATTS & PAIN” (released February 2024) to sold-out venues three to ten times the size of the Troubadour across Europe, America, and Australia on their “Glory to Glory” world tour.
The duo, frequently regarded as indie music’s next big thing, are set up for a massive run this summer including appearances at almost every major music festival in the United States: The Governors Ball in New York City, Lollapalooza in Chicago, Bonnaroo in Manchester, Outside Lands in San Francisco, etc. These shows also precede Royel Otis’s upcoming headlining dates across the United States this fall as a part of their “meet me in the car tour” that was just announced earlier this week.
Royel Otis took home 4 ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) awards last year, including Best Group and Best Rock Album, as well as recognition as one of the Grammy Awards’s “25 Artists to Watch in 2024.” It’s clear that Royel Otis has cemented their place in the indie-rock scene, making it almost obsolete to call them “up and coming.”
To many it feels like they’ve catapulted to being overnight sensations sometime in the past year, but a quick look at their discography will tell you that their two most popular tracks are actually a few years old — “Oysters in My Pocket,” a single from 2022, and “Sofa King,” the title track of their early 2023 EP. Despite years of relentless commitment to their craft, Royel Otis’s music feels effortless, almost dreamlike, and maybe what people love about them most. Their sound is timeless and youthful, like a warm summer day with a cool breeze. With the momentum they’ve built this past year, they’re set up to provide the summer soundtrack for many twenty-somethings worldwide.
Upcoming Royel Otis Live Shows — including “meet me in the car tour” dates:
*Headlining dates are bolded
6/8/25 New York, NY @ The Governors Ball Music Festival
6/15/25 Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
6/21/25 Lisbon, Portugal @ Meo Kalorma
6/27/25 St.Gallen, Switzerland @ Sittertobel, St. Gallen
6/29/25 Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
7/3/25 Barcelona, Spain @ Vida Festival
7/6/25 Belfort, France @ Eurockéennes
7/7/25 Montreux, Switzerland @ Montreux Jazz Festival
7/10/25 Madrid, Spain @ Mad Cool Festival
7/13/25 Berlin, Germany @ Lollapalooza Berlin
7/27/25 Minamiuonuma, Niigata @ Fuji Rock
7/31/25 Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
8/1/25 St.Charles, IA @ Hinterland Music Festival
8/3/25 Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival
8/5/25 Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre *
8/6/25 Portland, OR @ PDX Live at Pioneer Courthouse Square *
8/9/25 San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands
8/15/25 Hamburg, Germany @ MS Dockville
8/16/25 Biddinghuizen, NL @ Lowlands Festival
8/23/25 Reading, UK @ Reading Festival
8/24/25 Leeds, UK @ Leeds Festival
9/12/25 Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall ^
9/14/25 Washington, DC @ The Anthem ^
9/15/25 Asbury Park, NJ @ Sea.Hear.Now Festival
9/16/25 Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz ^
9/19/25 Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory ^
9/20/25 Austin, TX @ Stubb’s ^
9/28/25 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre ^
9/30/25 Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom ^
10/2/25 St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre ^
10/3/25 Kansas City, MO @ Grinders KC ^
10/4/25 Chesterfield, MO @ The Factory ^
10/10/25 Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway ^
10/11/25 New York, NY @ The Rooftop at Pier 17 ^