Last year I had made plans to go to Imagine Music Fest, but sadly it was canceled the day before due to inclement weather. Then in November I was supposed to be attending EDC Las Vegas but ended up having to stay home to take care of one of my pets who got super sick. So that’s two instances where I had plans lined up to see ARMNHMR perform live and couldn’t. So you can imagine how excited I was to finally see them. Honestly, excitement doesn’t even begin to describe it. I was ecstatic!
When The Photo Pit editor called me at 5pm to tell me I was approved and asking if I still wanted to shoot it, I didn’t think twice and said “yes yes yes!” I knew I would be cutting it close with traffic, but I was determined to shoot the show. It was pretty overcast when I left my house, then started to rain as soon as I got into Atlanta. I arrived at Buckhead Theatre around 10pm, right as BLANKE was taking the stage. I had trouble getting my credentials due to some confusion at the box office, but they got me in finally & I was able to photo the last song of the first three Blanke performed. (Standard media rules bands allow are to photograph from the photo pit the first 3 songs of their set.)
John Paul Orchison, known by his stage name BLANKE, is an Australian DJ and record producer from Canberra, Australia. His first release was a remix of ”Not Many If Any” by Death Ray Shake. That was soon followed by a dual release of his own tracks: Black Mamba and Koji, released under Artist Intelligence agency. In 2019, BLANKE signed with Zeds Dead’s record label, Deadbeats, and released Alt.Color & Voice In The Machine, a two track release. On September 6th, 2019, he released his first full-length studio album on Deadbeats. Since then he has continued to travel and perform with popular artists like Sullivan King, further gaining traction and making himself a household name.
It was obvious all his hard work was paying off because the amount of energy erupting from the crowd as he was on stage was phenomenal. He played several of his songs as well as other well-known tracks like “scream saver” by SUBTRONICS and “Tie Me Down” by Gryffin which had the entire crowd singing along, jumping up and down & headbanging in unison. This was my third time seeing BLANKE live so I knew it was going to be a good set, but honestly, it was the best one I’ve seen so far from him. He just gets better and better each time. His music always gives me such an overwhelming feeling of joy and his stage presence makes it even more exciting because his energy is just as wild and full of life as the tracks he plays. I wasn’t able to get the full setlist, but I can tell you for sure that he played some of his newest album, which consists more of ”love songs” as well as some heavy hitters that we all know and love. I was also allowed backstage & in the green room at Buckhead, so I was able to see him come off the stage after his performance, still euphoric from his set, riding cloud nine. He was super nice in the small amount of time I was able to interact with him and it was clear to me that he’s just a normal guy from Australia, doing what he loves. It’s always so great to meet artists who are down to earth and remind you that we’re all human and not that different, no matter what position we’re at on the social ladder.
ARMNHMR (pronounced Arm and Hammer) is a producer/DJ duo from Los Angeles California consisting of Joseph Chung and Joseph Abella. ARMNHMR hit their initial break when The Chainsmokers shared their remix of “Inside Out ” on their SoundCloud account. Some of their most popular songs include their remix to Adventure Club’s song “Breathe,” “WANT YOU,” “FAREWELL” and more. As of September 2017, ARMNHMR had over 73K followers on SoundCloud, 5K followers on Twitter, 10K followers on Twitter and 40K likes on Facebook. They debuted on Monstercat with their track “Saving Lives”, which was released on November 19, 2021. The duo is no stranger to attacking all spectrums of the dance music scene. With masterful original productions and beautifully resonating remixes ranging from eclectic to trap, ARMNHMR has received strong support from high-profile artists throughout the industry. A combination of heart-pounding drops and melodic interludes encompass the #HammerSound. January 21, 2022: ARMNHMR released their second Monstercat single, Falling Apart featuring RUNN. This song is featured on Rocket League x Monstercat and their Waiting For Love EP. The release of this song also coincides with the start of their Waiting For Love Tour.
Finally, the moment I had been waiting for, for going on 6 months now had come as ARMNHMR was about to take the stage. It didn’t take us long to realize that they had a welcome note for us on the screen. It said “We’re ARMNHMR from the West Coast… Been thinking about tonight for a really long time… Welcome to the Waiting For Love Tour!” Then the screen went black again and the words read “are you ready?” Then, almost as quick as lightning, the screen started flashing with their logo & up from behind the table shot up Joseph + Joe. The crowd burst into screams and they started the night. I only had one song in particular that I wanted to hear, which was “Silver Lining ft. KAARA” which didn’t take long at all to hear. I don’t think I’ve talked about how emotional I am as a person in the past reviews I’ve done, but just so everyone knows, I cry a lot. So it’s no shock that as soon as I heard the one song I wanted to hear, I started tearing up. The song itself is emotional and talks about how the narrator is trying her best to find the silver lining. But being there, in that moment, hearing it live while also photographing it was so profound I couldn’t help myself.
They continued the night with hit after hit, playing songs like “Can’t let you go”, “Everybody feels”, and their remix of “In Your Arms” by Illenium. Their set honestly had me feeling all the feelings. It’s also important to note how amazing the crowd was. During the upbeat songs, you could hear them all chanting “ATL HOE” at the tops of their lungs. Not sure if everyone was feeling super supportive of their hometown, or quoting something ARMNHMR tweeted before their show, but either way it was super cool to witness. It was also a sold-out show, just like a lot of the past dates on their tour, which made it even more apparent that these two are doing something right. They knew exactly how to get the crowd pumped and didn’t stop smiling at each other and jumping around the entire night. If you haven’t listened to any of their music yet I HIGHLY suggest it. Catch them on tour before it ends or at an upcoming festival this season!
Be the first to comment