The alternative-indie band from Los Angeles, Wallows, packs the house in Fayetteville, Arkansas as their North American tour comes to an end.
In March of this year, Wallows released their sophomore album, Tell Me That It’s Over. Since the release, the band has been touring across North America and has hit a few locations in Europe. After their return to the states, they began part two of their North American tour. The band consists of three members – Dylan Minnette (vocals/guitar/drums), Braeden Lemasters (vocals/guitar), and Cole Preston(drums/vocals/guitar). Touring with them are long-time friends, Danny Ferenbach (keys/trumpet), Blake Morell (bass), and Kevin Grimmett (guitar/keys).
Supporting the headlining band was Empath. The four-member crew is made up of Catherine Elicson (vocals/guitar), Garrett Koloski (drums), Emily Shanahan (synthesizer), and touring artist Johnny (bass). Empath just recently released their second album, Visitor, with synthesizer Randy Coon. The band started at 7:30 PM and warmed up the crowd despite their thirty-minute set.
Three minutes before show time, “Heaven or Las Vegas” by Cocteau Twins filled the venue with suspense as fans anticipated Wallows’ first steps on stage. The band opened with their 2017 debut single “Pleaser.” They then transitioned into “Dig What You Dug” from their 2020 EP Remote, which Lemasters explained was requested by one of the many fans he had met on their day off the day before. Not long after, Minnette and Preston swap places for their performance of “Quarterback,” another track from Remote.After their performance of fan favorite “1980s Horror Film” from their first EP Spring, they had technical difficulties and picked a fan to choose a song to play instead of the one they planned. The fan picked “Ground,” also a track from their EP Spring. Following was “Let the Sun In,” in which Ferenbach performed his infamous trumpet solo and completed the performance of the entirety of Spring. Fans went crazy for the slowed rendition of their 2018 single “Underneath the Streetlights in the Winter Outside Your House.”
The band “ended” the show with the final track from their latest album, Tell Me That It’s Over. They left the stage only to return after Arkansas residents called the hogs. When Minnette returned to the stage, he asked the crowd to call them again and fans replied, “Wooo Pig Sooie! Razorbacks!” They performed “Marvelous” and then began to play their popular single “Are You Bored Yet?” but were interrupted because Preston’s drum pad stopped working. While he tried to find the source of the problem, Lemasters took it into his own hands to distract everyone. He started to strum One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” as fans began to sing the words. Still stalling for time, he also began to play One Direction’s “One Thing.” To both, fans began to freak out while experiencing a rare crossover. Eventually, they solved the problem and closed the show with “Are You Bored Yet?”
Later this year, the band will headline their first trip to Australia and will return to Europe in 2023. They also confirmed a few slots at different festivals in South America and will be opening for Blink-182 at two shows in Peru and Mexico.
