Waterparks' Performance In Chicago Goes Real Super Dark

According their Spotify bio, Waterparks never sit still. And that is completely true. After five studio albums and multiple EPs and singles, the pop-rock trio from Houston, Texas, composed of Awsten Knight (vocals, guitar), Geoff Wigington (guitar) and Otto Wood (drums) came down to Chicago for the infamous Lollapalooza. Through the festival, smaller, more intimate aftershows were organized, and Waterparks took the stage on August 3rd at Park West to deliver an incredible hour long set, supported by indie band Nightly.

After a late door call at 10pm CST and an hour long wait, indie band Nightly took the stage, preparing the crowd for the arrival of the headliners. Nightly, an alt-pop trio from Nashville, Tennessee is made up of Jonathan Capeci (vocals, guitar), Joey Beretta (guitar) and Nicholas Sainato (drums). They lit up the stage with warm alt-pop/indie sounds that was enough to wake up the crowd at that late hour, and left everyone with a fuzzy feeling in their chests. The band greeted their audience with enthusiasm, and the crowd matched them note for note. An all too short 30 minutes later, Nightly would bid the crowd farewell, leaving everyone to wait in anticipation for our headliners to emerge.

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Finally, just before midnight, the lights went dim, and the crowds cheered as the intro to LIKE IT played. A small soundbite from a Rock Sound interview began the show, with frontman Awsten Knight's voice enthusiastically saying "it's me". LIKE IT was an extremely fitting choice to open their first show as an independent band after their complicated relationship with the labels they've been signed to in the past. The frontman proceeded to pull off a mask that was previously a part of a costume from the Intellectual Property era. This was significant since the band had only cancelled their upcoming album, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 2: LOST IN THE PROPERTY a day before playing this show. The decision came from Knight, who decided to prioritize his mental health over the release of the album. Read our full coverage of the cancellation here.

The setlist was an unexpected one, with many deep cuts, and not many popular songs. After an energetic entrance with LIKE IT, the band kept their energy up with Numb, which was one of the few "popular" songs they played. Following Numb, they would go on to play Not Warriors, a song from their sophomore album, Entertainment. Occasionally on past tours, portions of the song were played as an acoustic surprise, but this is the first time in a while the song was played in full. At the end of the second verse, their crowd of one thousand people would scream the infamous line at the top of their lungs, "I think you saved my life", warming and healing hearts all throughout the venue.

Following Not Warriors, Knight greeted the crowd, wishing them a happy pride (even though it was August) and played a song that was last heard on the Property Tour from 2023, Telephone. Yes, the same Telephone that was in the show Heartstopper. Excited fans danced along to Telephone and You'd Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out To Get You).

After Paranoid and a hauntingly beautiful performance of Snow Globe, Waterparks went on to play one of their more recent singles, SOULSUCKER, a song that was meant to be on INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 2. This performance was very similar to the one on the Sneaking Out Of Heaven tour, with only the first verse and chorus being played, then followed by an explosion of sound from SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN. During the song, Knight would take not one, not two, but three lesbian flags onto the stage from fans and dance around with them on stage for the entire duration of the song, exciting the crowd with his and the band's support of the LGBTQ+ community.

The set would soon switch gears; the intense energy brought on by SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN would mellow out and guitarist Geoff Wigington and drummer Otto Wood would rest while Knight brought out his acoustic guitar for the small medley of songs. They would go on to play portions of deep cut songs such as Powerless (from their first album Double Dare), Sleep Alone (from Entertainment) and I Felt Younger When We Met (from FANDOM). But the acoustic set didn't stop there. After a short but bittersweet callback to the Intellectual Property era, Knight asked the crowd if they could play a deep cut from their fifth studio album, and ended the acoustic set with the tenth track of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, CLOSER, and bringing their whole audience to tears.

As the night went on, the set came to a close, and ended with songs such as SELF SABOTAGE, a song that had only been played partially during the Sneaking Out Of Heaven tour and last played in full during the Property Tour, and ended the set on a powerful three song lineup of FUNERAL GREY, REAL SUPER DARK and Turbulent. The last two songs called for mosh pits, and after repeating the last chorus of Turbulent, Waterparks bid the crowd goodbye until the next day where they would perform at Lollapalooza.