Show Review: Waterparks – Orlando, 11/19 | House of Blues

It’s been far too long since I’ve last seen a Waterparks show. And by far too long, I mean just one day shy of exactly two years. The pandemic took a toll on the live music industry, but with the way Waterparks commanded the stage you’d assume they never stopped performing over the past year or so.

The time away from the stage found Waterparks pouring their time into Greatest Hits, the trio’s fourth album and perhaps the most experimental addition to their discography yet. The tour, named after the record’s concluding track “See You In The Future”, found its way down to Orlando on a rainy Friday evening. While the weather was admittedly a bit drearier than some may have liked, the show was anything but.

Phem took the stage first, dazzling the crowd with fan-favorites like “Dead Yet” and “Flowers”, and throwing a cover of “Teenage Dirtbag” into the mix so everyone could get involved in singing along. Having just released “Silly Putty” the day of the show, fans were eager to be able to sing along live themselves after listening to a version of the track that finally didn’t come from a video of it being performed at a earlier show.

Phem’s artistry was palpable. I’ve never seen an opener take control of a venue and its energy so quickly. They were the perfect opener for Waterparks not just because the show was being livestreamed and they were able to excite fans who weren’t even there in person, but their approach to performing complements that of Waterparks frontman, Awsten Knight, flawlessly.

Take everything you know about how Waterparks plays a show, double it, and turn it on its head: that’s the See You In The Future tour. The experimentation of the Greatest Hits era goes beyond just the production of the album, but it bleeds into the showmanship that Knight, [Geoff] Wigington, and [Otto] Wood have developed in their year away from the stage. While classic Waterparks songs like “Blonde”, “Stupid For You”, and “Lucky People” will never disappoint, there’s something particularly special about watching the band take some of their more recent releases, like “Turbulent” and “[Reboot]”, and pick them apart until they resemble something familiar, but ultimately brand new.

Of course, a Waterparks show wouldn’t be a Waterparks show without the band getting up to some antics. From making the crowd sing “Happy Birthday” to their tour manager (who, I should note, was likely not celebrating his birthday since the band does this fairly often), to Knight debating on whether or not he should sell feet pics (the crowd decided $500 was a reasonable price), Waterparks always allots some time to be silly and interactive between demanding for the best the crowd has to offer.

The interactivity is what makes Waterparks stand out, truthfully. No matter where you are in the venue, you’re not able to escape the feeling that the band wants you, specifically, to give it your all. The idea that a band can make every person in the venue, from the balcony to the floor, feel like they’re having the time of their lives is a gift. It’s a skill some artists struggle to learn, a skill some artists master, and a skill some artists (Waterparks) set a new standard of success for each time you see them.

It’s no surprise the Waterparks show was great. They never miss, simply put. With each time I’ve seen them over the years, they’ve elevated their idea of a good show by no less than 200% since the last time they were in town. Both they and the crowd know their expectations for each other will always be exceeded, and half the fun is figuring out just how they plan to go about doing that.

Maybe it’ll be the band changing up how they play a song, or picking on specific people in the crowd to have discussions with. Maybe it’ll be the crowd poking fun at the band right back, or opening up venue-wide mosh pits simply because they demand it. You never really know what’s going to go down at a Waterparks show and it’s more fun that way.