On Friday night, the main stage of The Canopy Club transformed into something evocative of a Boiler Room for a DJ set by Oddly Satisfying and underscores.
Oddly Satisfying is a DJ duo composed of influencer Ky Newman and musician Liam Hall, also known as atlgrandma. Sharing the DJ board with them was musician and producer April Harper Grey, also known as underscores.
Together, the three of them delivered a fun, jam-packed two-hour set.
Newman is perhaps best known for his contributions to the “Emergency Intercom” podcast, hosted by influencers Enya Umanzor and Drew Phillips. Newman built a following of his own after some production work and appearances on the podcast, which led him to more creative endeavors such as DJing and the occasional YouTube post.
Hall is a versatile musician from Atlanta. His sound is inherently electric with dance-pop undertones, reminiscent of a more polished version of a SoundCloud rapper.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
Grey is a boundary pusher in the hyper-pop world. She began her music career at 12 years old and garnered a fanbase from her early days as an experimental artist. Now, Grey is at the forefront of hyper-pop influences.
The Oddly Satisfying duo, however, seemingly came out of nowhere. They first began DJing in 2024 and have since performed in a handful of places. On Friday, their tour made a stop in Urbana.
The night began with a student DJ set by I LOVE CAUSING DRAMA. His set began at 9 p.m. and got the still-forming crowd moving. He played a variety of EDM mixes, as well as some faint Playboi Carti, showing the crowd that he knows his audience.
During his hour-long set, the audience was socializing, taking pictures and finding their groups to enjoy the rest of the show ahead.
The crowd that had gathered was relatively young, some of them being fans of either one or both of the main acts.
Jayden Defreitas, a Champaign resident, was a fan of both Oddly Satisfying and underscores, looking forward to seeing them come together.
“I was introduced to Ky from ‘Emergency Intercom,’ and I actually saw atlgrandma open for Coco & Clair Clair,” Defreitas said. “I’ve been a fan ever since.”
As 10 p.m. arrived, the audience seemingly doubled in size in anticipation of Oddly Satisfying and underscores. Somewhere in the midst of the crowd, Newman and Hall had found their way to the DJ board and joined I LOVE CAUSING DRAMA for a song. Their arrival wasn’t apparent until those directly in front of them pulled out their phones to record it.
Their set begins with “Immaterial” by SOPHIE, cleverly mixed with “crush” by 2hollis. The crowd began to close in around Newman and Hall while singing the lyrics of “crush.”
To introduce the next song, the duo teased the intro of “HOT TO GO!” by Chappell Roan that got the crowd jumping and singing, “Five, six/ Five, six, seven, eight.” However, this intro merged into a mesh of “jeans” by 2hollis and “Club classics” by Charli xcx instead.
In the same casual way that Newman and Hall had arrived on the stage, Grey did the same, as electronic dance music by Bassvictim played during her arrival. Grey is masterful on the DJ board, showcasing her expertise to the crowd; a night of fun, tasteful mixes is still up their sleeve.
“FE!N” by Playboi Carti was up next, but only the intro. They used that song to queue up “Headphones On” by Addison Rae, which they let play while the audience swayed and sang along.
The night had many of these moments. The audience is led to believe a certain song will play, but a left-field mix proves them wrong.
A crafty mix of “Treat Me Like a S—” by Kim Petras combined with “Space Song” by Beach House created something tasteful and seamless. The raised fists and dancing of audience members celebrated the songs played and how well they worked together.
A hallmark of Oddly Satisfying is the comedic way in which they perform while still keeping the quality of the set. There are times when a song such as “#SELFIE” by The Chainsmokers is played, and despite this song being over a decade old, the audience still receives it.
The comedic parts of their set were done modestly and with skill. Moments of Ice Spice’s “Think U The S— (Fart)” played behind a Samsung ringtone is successful because the duo knows their audience, and it’s not overdone. Perhaps it is thanks to their online presence that they can incorporate moments like these into a unique set that is worth remembering.
The only times the duo addressed the audience were to ask how the crowd was feeling, to sing “Happy Birthday” to a person in the crowd and to dedicate the song “Ride” by SoMo to “all the children of divorce.” Despite minimal interaction, they got to know the audience via song and interacted with them musically.
Knowing the audience is important, and the duo understood that. Considering that Urbana is the home of American Football House, the intro of “Never Meant” played into a medley with some EDM features that got cheers from the audience.
To say goodbye to the night, the set ended with “Mystery of Love” by Sufjan Stevens, a bittersweet and yearning song about love and loss. It was an interesting addition to a DJ set, but a wonderful way to say goodbye in this context. This track soon turned into “Love Takes Miles” by Cameron Winter, which allowed for a more upbeat goodbye. They then left the stage with the scratch of a turntable and a wave goodbye.
Despite the late hour, people were content and impressed by the fact that artists like these were in town. Owen Jakl, junior in Business, described what he saw as upbeat club music.
“It was really cool,” Jakl said. “I really liked seeing everybody, especially underscores. Seeing underscores here was such a f—ing big surprise. It was awesome.”
Brandon Villaova, an Urbana resident, was also impressed with the night of music he saw. He was surprised at this genre of music being brought to Urbana.
“At the moment, I think the pop wave, fun-pop kind of hyper-pop is very popular at this time, so I think it was interesting to see that be represented here,” Villaova said.
Oddly Satisfying had something for everyone. From Frost Children and Jane Remover to Sabrina Carpenter and MGMT, the mixing was so well-executed that all these artists fit with each other despite varying genres.
