ORION 2(0)24
Last year was the start of my journey in exploring Houston communities and spaces, so my friends told me to check out the local music scene. For the first few months, I tried expanding the genres of music I listen to — got to experience heavy/death metal for the first time — but soon lost motivation for that and instead returned to the styles of music that I used to love when I was younger, one being indie rock. Orion 224 made it onto my radar when one of my cousins sent me a link to “Strawberry Horchata”. I instantly knew they would be my newest hyperfixation. The pacing, balance, and messaging of their songs reminded me a lot of the bands I listened to growing up, and that was the biggest sign for me to experience their music in person. Held at The Compound, the 2nd 224Festival/album release show for Take My Hand was supposed to be my first ORION 224 experience, but a lot of work got in between me and their shows throughout the year. After missing out so many times, I was finally able to see them at their New Years Eve show for my last concert of 2024 and first concert of 2025!
The song they chose to play as they got up on stage was “El Rey” by Vicente Fernandez, and that choice helped me understand why I love ORION 224’s sound as much as I do. The experience of listening to Chente is one that’s shared among a lot of the latinx Houston community, and the influence from that shows in how well they can convey emotions in their songs. Going from that powerful ballad to starting their show with “Violet Sunset” had the crowd excited and moving from the get go. Throughout their set they took short moments to engage with us, cover songs, held a toast to 2025, and counted down the last seconds of the year. Before midnight, they made sure to wish us good luck by performing a cover of Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe”. It was one of the loudest moments of the show, only being outshined by “Strawberry Horchata” and “Everything Will Be Okay”, both of those drew the crowd as close as possible while dancing the soles off our shoes. After we rang in the New Year, ORION 224 ended the night with a cover of “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers to start 2025 with a refreshing hope.
Holding their New Years Eve show at Axelrad made the show a lot more intimate and communal; something that I want to experience a lot of in 2025. So many fans in the crowd were dancing hard but one of the most active had to be Garrett, this tall, fast-moving guy who was seeing ORION 224 for the first time, same as me. It really goes to show how great of a band these four Houston locals have become when they can even make first-time fans go one-hundred percent at their shows. I cannot wait to see what 2025 has in store for this band and what this band has in store for its fans; Happy New Year!
The song they chose to play as they got up on stage was “El Rey” by Vicente Fernandez, and that choice helped me understand why I love ORION 224’s sound as much as I do. The experience of listening to Chente is one that’s shared among a lot of the latinx Houston community, and the influence from that shows in how well they can convey emotions in their songs. Going from that powerful ballad to starting their show with “Violet Sunset” had the crowd excited and moving from the get go. Throughout their set they took short moments to engage with us, cover songs, held a toast to 2025, and counted down the last seconds of the year. Before midnight, they made sure to wish us good luck by performing a cover of Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe”. It was one of the loudest moments of the show, only being outshined by “Strawberry Horchata” and “Everything Will Be Okay”, both of those drew the crowd as close as possible while dancing the soles off our shoes. After we rang in the New Year, ORION 224 ended the night with a cover of “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers to start 2025 with a refreshing hope.
Holding their New Years Eve show at Axelrad made the show a lot more intimate and communal; something that I want to experience a lot of in 2025. So many fans in the crowd were dancing hard but one of the most active had to be Garrett, this tall, fast-moving guy who was seeing ORION 224 for the first time, same as me. It really goes to show how great of a band these four Houston locals have become when they can even make first-time fans go one-hundred percent at their shows. I cannot wait to see what 2025 has in store for this band and what this band has in store for its fans; Happy New Year!
Text submitted to Dulce Visiones Magazine by Georgie R.
January 05, 2025
January 05, 2025
