Photos and Review by ALYSON CAMUS
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Winnetka Bowling League brought its high-energy show to the Hollywood Palladium, and along with Loveless, set the stage for headliner Waterparks on Saturday. Winnetka Bowling League knew they didn’t have too much time to convince the crowd who had packed the venue to see Waterparks, their beloved Texas band.
“We just have 20 minutes,” WBL lead singer Matthew Koma told us, immediately rushing into their first song, a funny tune about the trending drink “Kombucha.”
They opened the night with a series of bright and catchy pop songs that they delivered with real energy, and this was a good precursor of what was about to come. Their sunny guitar pop was complimented by quirky keyboards by Sam Beresford and explosive drumming by Kris Mazzarisi, building infectious pop hooks. “Handsome,” a perfect example of their ability to craft a catchy song, was familiar at first listening and brought the crowd on its toes.
“This is a song about driving on the freeway in Los Angeles,” Koma told us before playing the more nostalgic “On the 5.”
“This is a song about getting your prescription from drugstore CVS,” he continued before the emotional sing-along named after the popular drugstore. Their groovy and always emotional songs were filled with plenty of California imagery, besides their propulsive nature.
The band kicked off 2024 with a new song, the dreamy, peppy “Sha La La,” a track that they didn’t miss playing during their short set, showcasing a glimmering chorus and yearning lyrics.
They closed their set with the melody-driven “Slow Dances,” and definitively made a big impression on the young crowd. They are playing a show at the Troubadour at the end of June, and anyone who enjoys sweet but upbeat melodies should not miss them.
The second act, Loveless, has been called the 2000 emo band for the TikTok generation: They effectively started their career by doing pop-punk covers of popular songs on the famous social media platform.
Loveless certainly didn’t let the energy go down, as frontman Julian Comeau was simply restless. He jumped around with a bottomless energy and constantly interacted with the crowd. Their set was especially carried by his soaring vocals and charismatic presence, asking for the crowd’s participation and delivering the songs with passionate energy.
Launching their set with “Haunting Me,” they played songs from their two albums “End of an Era” and “Loveless I,” alternating between an over-the-top emotional delivery, gigantic sing-alongs, and a soaring powerhouse that dominated most of the song. Multi-instrumentalist Dylan Tirapelli-Jamail brought the noise, drummer Stephen Haaker added pounding drumming for songs like “Killing Tim,” Drag Me Down,” “Addicted,” “Control,” “Picasso,” while the lyrics introduced a balance between introspection and angst.
They played a snippet of Kate Bush’s megahit “Running Up That Hill,” but all of the songs they performed were their original material. All the attention was on Corneau who gave an impressive physical performance, racing and jumping around the stage while screaming the lyrics of the heavy-hitting tunes in an incendiary manner.
The audience was completely taken by the performance, singing along lyrics to every song and screaming when a band member came close. Many girls started crowd surfing while the band expressed a genuine feeling of gratitude and excitement all set long.
It was the final show of Waterparks’ ”Sneaking out of Heaven” tour and they took the stage under some eardrum-splitting screams coming from the large crowd. Their entire set was a high-energy affair with fast moves and loud sing-alongs while frontman and lead vocalist Awsten Knight was once again the center of all attention. Backed by drummer Otto Wood, and lead guitarist Geoff Wigington, his multicolor-painted face and hair moved from the left to the right of the stage, as he jumped and bounced for close to an hour and 40 minutes.
Besides the formidable energy on display, their eclectic genre was difficult to pigeonhole: pop, rock, punk, hip hop, they seemed to explore many territories while always looking for a hard-hitting and banging effect. The crowd was jumping along with the music and the crowd surfing never stopped. The audience energy had already reached the roof when confetti cannons and colorful smog shot the crowd. This is something that usually happens at the end of a show, but it was only the third song and this bombastic effect became the tone of the entire night.
The devoted fans sang all the lyrics in unison, even when the band surprised us with a Liz Phair cover (“Why Can’t I”), or maybe it was not a surprise… The trio certainly pulls inspiration from different eras and genres to produce something unique but always hyper-stimulating, that sounded like a hyper-fast ride of noise and sounds.
Waterparks has been in the game for 12 years and with five albums under its belt – the last one, Intellectual Property was released last year – they could jump between different styles, going from experimental to extremely electro-poppy. The result, a collection of noises wrapped together by an emo-punk attitude and hip-hop injections, may have been a lot to digest for a novice like me, but it was a complete delight for the audience, overwhelmingly young, and extremely enthusiastic.
At one point, a sheet dropped in front of the stage, working as a projector screen, onto which were projected shadows of Knight and his bandmates while a woman’s voice read a piece about overcoming religious trauma. The band’s explosive delivery was also slowed down by a short acoustic set during which Awsten Knight sat behind a keyboard at the opposite side of the venue. Many people got to see him closer, but as soon as he got back on stage, the energy was back up for the remainder of the set.
For the entire night, the crowd never got tired of jumping, singing, bouncing, and crowd surfing, and for several hours, love was in the air like hundreds of iPhone lights.
Setlist
Watch What Happens Next
Blonde
Fuzzy / Violet! / American Graffiti / The Secret Life of Me / Just Kidding / See You in the Future / Lowkey As Hell
Why Can’t I (Liz Phair cover)
Stupid for You
You’d Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out to Get You)
SOULSUCKER
SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN
Magnetic
RITUAL
SELF-SABOTAGE
BRAINWASHED
FUCK ABOUT IT
High Definition
Snow Globe
Crying Over It All
21 Questions
I Miss Having Sex but at Least I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore
FUNERAL GREY
Encore:
Numb
Turbulent
REAL SUPER DARK
