For being a band with such a sad name, Wallows’s music always seems to lift my spirits. Dylan Minnette, Braeden LeMasters, and Cole Preston have the talent that many others can’t even dream of. The band was formed in 2011, but it was not until 2020 that they gained a massive following after Dylan finished his time as Clay Jenson in the hit Netflix series “13 Reasons Why”.
Fast forward to 2024 and Wallows has released three albums and two Extended Play’s (EP), their most recent being the album “Model”, released in May 2024. They are currently on a world tour for that album for about four months, starting in Portland, Oregon in August and ending in Brisbane, Australia in December.
I recently saw them in Philadelphia on August 23, and let me just say, I will never get over it. I’ve been a fan of Wallows for about 2 years. I discovered their music in 2022 when they released the album, Tell Me That It’s Over, and I haven’t looked back since.
Wallows hasn’t been on tour since 2022, for Tell Me That It’s Over, and with a new album, the craze for Wallows has exponentially increased. The opener was Benee, an Alt/Indie artist from New Zealand; and she performed her most popular songs, one of which went viral on TikTok in 2021.
Music sounds so different when it’s live compared to when you are listening to it on vinyl or on Spotify. Hearing Dylan, Braeden, and Cole’s voices live is so different, and way better than listening to “Model” on repeat for months, which is exactly what I’ve been doing since the album came out in May.
Don’t even get me started on the light effects. The performance was top-tier, but the effects are what made the show go above and beyond. The lights were constantly changing with the vibe of each song, and when it got to a slow song or a solo verse, they dropped the spotlights on the guys, which really affected the vibes of the song and the effect on the audience.
One of my favorite parts about the show is when they did a short set on a second stage somewhere on the floor or in the pit. It started with the song “She’s an Actress,” where Dylan started walking off the stage into the audience, and Cole and Braedon followed him to the second stage, where it was portrayed as a living room. There were two sofa chairs and a piano. They played three songs there, and at my show, they changed a song on the set and played “Ground,” a song that hasn’t been played yet on tour.
It’s been over a week since the concert and I still haven’t processed the fact that I actually saw my favorite band live. I spent almost $200 on merch but I don’t regret a single cent of it. It’s a documentation of one of the best days of my life and I never want to forget a moment of it..