Houston Band, Orion 224 Kicks Off Tour With A Bang

On Thursday, October 19, Houston based indie-pop band, Orion 224, had an insanely packed show at UH’s the Nook Rooftop Bar. The Houston show was the opening night in their Hasn’t Been The Same Since tour, in which they visited San Antonio, Austin and Dallas over a jam-packed weekend.

At the newly reopened The Nook Rooftop, Orion 224 hosted a tour kickoff Halloween Party supported by two other Houston based bands, Wayside Drive and Strawberry Milk Cult. The rooftop bar was packed, with everyone dressed in Halloween costumes, and Orion 224 dressed as members of the Scooby Doo gang, in anticipation for the costume contest following Orion 224’s set.

Photos taken by Shelby Cothren for Orion 224

Orion 224 came on stage with amazing stage presence, playing various covers, as well as many of their original songs. After the first song, the lead singer, Cris Gonzalez, threw balloons and Scooby Snacks into the audience and fans bounced them around as they continued their set. At one point, Gonzalez pulled out a deranged looking doll and passed it to a crowd member who held it up, making the doll wave to the band. The crowd became so hyped that they began moshing to the bands music, which was honestly pretty crazy to witness. It was a true testament to how memorable and amazing the night was. By the end of the band’s set, the crowd cheered, asking for an encore. Gonzalez and his other bandmates looked at each other, confused as to whether or not they should continue. Eventually, bassist Victor Perez took the mic, rapping into it, while the band followed suit.

Orion 224 consists of brothers Cris and Gavin, who is on the drums, Sean on the guitar and Victor. Gavin and Cris started the band when they were respectively twelve and fourteen years-old playing house parties. Although they feel like their oldest album, Something Beautiful, is not representative of the more mature sound they have now, they are shocked at how many people still request them to play various songs from the album, and refuse to let them take it off of Spotify.

Photos taken by Shelby Cothren for Orion 224

The band’s newest single is named “Violet Sunset,” which the newest member, Sean, was able to collaborate on. The song itself has upbeat indie, beachy, instrumentals, but the lyrics actually tell a sad story of a failing relationship.

When starting off with Orion 224, Sean was still attending Texas State, and would often commute to Houston for the band’s shows. “I once got a parking ticket for that show” laughed Sean when reminiscing on his memories with the band.

Check out Orion 224 on Spotify, and follow their Instagram to stay updated on upcoming shows.