Daniel Caesar’s Sensational Superpowers Tour at the WAMU Theater in Seattle

BY CALLIE SOLBERG (SHE/HER)

It was a packed house at the WAMU theater this past Friday night in Seattle as Daniel Caesar took to the stage. The performer stopped in both Portland and Seattle for the PNW leg of his tour before heading to Canada. The crowd was decked out in silver and black tones and created an energized atmosphere throughout the venue.

Opener Orion Sun started the night off with a combination of melodic and hyped up beats, waking up the crowd. The 26-year-old indie singer and songwriter, whose original name is Tiffany Majette, has a charming stage presence and an incredibly smooth voice. The style of songwriting and tempo resonated with similarity to Caesar’s music and the audience was immediately drawn into the rhythms. Orion Sun noted that it was their first time in Seattle, commenting appreciatively on the city and thanking Caesar for the amazing opportunity to open, as it was their final stop on the tour.

After a brief break a video began to play on the extended screen on stage. The crowd began to rumble with noise and people pulled out their phones to capture the moment Caesar made his appearance on stage. The build up was slow, starting with a screencast of different clips, audio and music. Then, the audience followed along behind Caesar as he wound his way through the back halls of the venue and finally appeared to tremendous applause.

Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Coachella

For the first several songs, Caesar performed inside a white, transparent cloth box at the center of the stage. One of the most impressive elements of this show was undoubtedly the stage design. The style for the introduction complimented the music and pacing of the setlist perfectly. Seeing the outline of the performer achieved an aesthetic effect while still hyping the crowd up to see him even more clearly. The audience was engaged throughout the show, singing along especially loud to crowd favorites like “CYANIDE”, “Best Part”, “ENTROPY” and “Do You Like Me?”. There were several medical and technical interruptions at several points but Caesar flowed through these events and continued with the setlist seamlessly.

The singer did a slow, emotional cover of the song “Creep” by Radiohead and showed off his talent on the piano for several songs towards the conclusion of the night. After he wrapped up by performing “Always” and headed backstage, the audience chanted his name: “Daniel! Daniel! Daniel!”, asking for an encore. The camera once again cut to following the performers back as he walked through the back hallways. Finally arriving at a room with a couch and guitar, the singer showed the date on his phone to verify the shot was live and then commenced his final performance of the evening. This was a refreshing and creative way to say goodbye to an audience, one I haven’t seen any other artist incorporate. The crooning melodies, beautiful stage lighting and design and pure talent of Caesar made the show nothing short of sensational.