Mondays aren’t so bad when you get to experience a Waterparks concert, especially one as stellar and energy-filled as the performance the guys put on the other night. It’s a show akin to your best friends throwing the coolest house party of the year, filled with awesome music, rainbows, and a nice handful of pop-punk angst. That’s the kind of concert the crowd in Dallas experienced this past Monday.
The Houston natives found their way back to the home state just in time for the holidays. Waterparks put on an amazing show in Dallas for their A Night Out On Earth Tour. The crowd was bustling with anticipation, waiting for the guys to take the stage. Then the lights dim, and the strange cloud-filled backdrop starts to glow. Sounds like chirping crickets start, maybe some rustling leaves, then we hear frontman Awsten Knight’s voice ring out “Last night I had the strangest dream of all”. With an awesome intro into their concert with “Greatest Hits”, the guys begin jamming out to “Numb” with its high energy-punk vocals. It’s impressive how in sync a crowd can be with lyrics that seem to go 100mph like in “Numb”, but that’s what you can expect from a fanbase as dedicated as theirs. We get a great mix of songs during the set. As expected, a large portion was dedicated to Greatest Hits, their newest album, with songs such as “Lowkey As Hell” and “Fuzzy”. But they also took the time to appreciate their earlier albums with hits such as “ Dream Boy” and “Stupid For You”. No matter the song though, fans were belting their hearts out along with Awsten. With him as their frontman, the room was never devoid of energy. He is such an extroverted and quirky front, the crowd always found a reason to smile. His energy exuded out from him as he bantered with the audience, having conversations with them ranging from the science (or lack thereof) behind name chanting and a decent conversation about furries. It was never a dull night, and with the added levels of guitarist Geoff Wigington providing impressive riffs throughout, and drummer Otto Wood as the backbone, this was a show that couldn’t be beat.
Their songs almost always have an upbeat sound to them, which is juxtaposed by their darker and more serious lyrics. They delve into a lot of the issues that frontman Awsten Knight has gone through, whether it’s dealing with fame, mental health, relationships, and even stalkers. It’s a lot to deal with, but it’s the kind of things fans really resonated with, and that was evident in the camaraderie that seemed to stem between the crowd and the band. There was a lot of love in the air. Fans would say “F**K YOU” to Awsten up onstage, and he would throw it right back at them. But not in an angry way, more like how friends talk to each other after months apart. All in all, it was an amazingly fun show that you should definitely see while you can!
You can find upcoming tour dates at waterparksband.com.
Photos and words by Kitty Jong (@kijophoto)
