Show Review: Waterparks mesmerize Boston.
written and photographed by hunter astrid b.
more photos + rest of the gallery can be found here.
Waterparks -
Waterparks are an American Trio from Houston, Texas that consists of singer and guitarist Awsten Knight, drummer Otto Wood, and guitarist Geoff Wingington. Although Otto and Geoff are technically not original members, they joined and took over in 2012. The group formed in 2011 and have released multiple EPs and five studio albums in total since their conception. Their first studio album Double Dare was released in November of 2016 through Equal Vision that features singles “Stupid For You” and “Royal.” In the past, they have had support and help with producing from Benji and Joel Madden (Good Charlotte), and even bassist of My Chemical Romance, Mikey Way, has played bass in their studio albums.
The group was apart of Warped Tour and have been supporting acts for bands like Sleeping With Sirens, Good Charlotte, All Time Low and more. Their most recent release was INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY in October of 2023 and features singles “FUCK ABOUT IT (feat. blackbear)” and “FUNERAL GREY.” The trio are also known for having specific color schemes for each album and era the band goes through, which tends to be showcased by Awsten’s vibrant and changing hairstyles (green for Turbulent, currently red and black for INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY).
If you know anything about Waterparks you know that it’s almost guaranteed that their live performance is going to be entertaining. I’ve been seeing the band perform live since 2016 and it’s been very pleasant to witness the trio develop skill wise, comfortability wise as well as performance/production wise. Going from small venues and stages at Warped Tour to headlining at the MGM Music Hall right next to Fenway Park genuinely makes me smile. Debuting new hii def clothing, Awsten’s own clothing brand, he badass-ly pulled off the color combo of purple and green, giving the Hulk a run for his money. Playing for a whopping hour and forty minutes, the trio’s energy did not seem to waiver one bit, which is extremely impressive when you take into account how much performing live music can take out of you. Song’s I have seen performed live by them a few times before seemed way more mature and developed and their use of videos and visual effects were extremely refreshing to see. This tour and their visuals seemed to take more of a concept album route than before, keeping breaking out of containment, pushing back against repression, and individuality as the main message throughout their set. Like usual, Awsten’s interactions with the audience and stage banter is always amusing to watch. For instance, at this show Awsten made a video on a fan’s phone of him quitting their job for them at a pet groomer’s place. How many of your favorite artists would quit your soul sucking job for you? Personally, I can’t think of many others.
MY FAVORITE SONG: “American Graffiti” off of Greatest Hits (2021)
Loveless -
Loveless is a Los Angeles based rock duo that consists of vocalist and producer Julian Comeau and multi-instrumentalist Dylan Tirapelli-Jamail. On tours the two are joined by drummer Stephen Hacker. A fairly newer band, they formed in 2020 and are signed to Rise Records. The group achieved notoriety on Tik Tok from their heavy hitting pop-punk version of pop songs including Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” Elley Duhe’s “Middle of the Night,” Liz’s “About Damn Time,” and more. Their first single “Better” was released in 2020 and their debut album Loveless I was released independently in June of 2021. In September of 2022 the two of them released End of an era and started to steer away from all of the covers they had been doing and started to focus more on original songs. Their most recent release was “Addicted” on Valentine’s Day of 2024.
In my opinion, Loveless was a great set to bridge the gap and transition between Sophie Powers and Waterparks. While Sophie tends to lean more towards hyper pop influences than straight rock influences, Loveless is known for developed and fun guitar riffs, especially when putting a twist on known pop songs. Singer Julian Comeau has a very charismatic air around him that’s infectious through his performance. His complicated and developed vocals riffs and high notes translate well on the stage and don’t get lost in their live performances. It’s very apparent that the members know each other very well and playing together has become like second nature to them. Although the group got popular on TikTok for their cover of pop songs, most of the songs they played were original and sounded just as good as their known covers. But of course they did pay homage to what helped them get their name on the map and did a mashup of their covers of “happier than ever,” “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God,” and “MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.” It was a nice little nostalgic throwback for me to see these covers performed live in 2024.
MY FAVORITE SONG: “If You Have My Voodoo Doll, Give Me a Hug” off of End of an era (2022)
Sophie Powers -
Sophie Powers is a 19 year older singer and songwriter from Toronto, Canada. When she was younger she often felt as if her emotions were dismissed. She now likes to give a voice to similar people who need it; she just wants “to make music that makes people feel validated and powerful.” Her music tends to be very frenetic, abrasive and catchy while singing about her generation and the unrealistic expectations that society has placed upon them. She grew up in a musical family and deep down always wanted to be a performer, but it wasn’t until she was 15 years old when she truly took that seriously. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue a music career and before she even started 11th grade she went on tour in the US with NOAHFINNICE.
Growing up, strong and powerful female posters like Lady Gaga and Kesha were very big influences, and it’s very apparent in her physical style as well as music style. Not only is she a successful musician, but she’s a successful fashion designer. Sophie designs all of her outfits herself and has created a very unique and ‘attention-grabbing’ style that honestly perfectly meshes with her sound. For her, music is extremely important and something she leans into for support.
Sophie’s personal connection to music in this way is the reason she makes music now. It’s “to help other people get through what [she] went through.” Her debut single for Atlantic Records, “Nosebleed,” was released in March of 2023. Her EP Red In Revenge was released the year before in March of 2022, and it really helped put her name out there. Here most recent release “Obsessed” was a collaboration with Ashley Sienna and was dropped on March 1st, 2024.
Sophie Powers was a fun and upbeat way to start off the night. Like I had mentioned above, Powers is still relatively new to the music scene, but her stage presence is already very developed and natural. She uses every inch of the stage that’s provided with her, bouncing and skipping across it with her big boots. Her outfit for the night was an all burgundy one - mainly made up of what seemed to be leather with a little bit of cotton. Her burgundy leather gloves gloves and pants with a black belt and boots really gave a dystopian type of vibe. Her high energy and bubbly personality was extremely entertaining to watch and the way she interacted flawlessly with the crowd made it seem more than natural. She even brought out a fan onto the stage who had dm’d her before to ask if she could perform a song with her. That fan got to sing NOAHFINNCE’s verse on her song “Clearview.” The fan walked away with a massive smile on her face and new experience under her belt, a memory she will easily never forget in her lifetime
MY FAVORITE SONG: “Obsessed” (2024)
