The Welcome to Hellvetica tour, double-headlined by alt-rock bands Joywave and I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME (IDKHOW), stopped in Tampa for the night of September 21st. The two bands collaborated on this tour where Joywave celebrates their 4th studio album, Cleanse, and IDKHOW with their debut album, Razzmatazz.
Up on stage first as a surprise guest was Clibbus, a self-described audio and visual multimedia artist. His set consisted of climbing ladders, passing out candy, fruit, and planks of wood to the crowd, as well as measuring the height and length of the venue by passing out measuring tape through the crowd to the back of the venue. His songs were full of call and response with the crowd as he completed scratch-offs on the top of his ladder. Among the songs performed were “Horse in a Department Store” and “Exploding Child”.
Next was Savannah Conley, who followed by saying, “I’m still figuring out if Clibbus is the best act to follow or the worst act to follow,” because of his antics on stage. This act had more of a conventional indie sound that had the crowd swaying and shouting compliments to the members of the band. Notable favorites by the band are “Never Be Ourselves” and “Never Want to Be In Love”.
Joywave entered the stage clearly inspired by their latest album, Cleanse. Themed after a car wash with their bubbly album cover, mechanic jumpsuits, and the boot of a car on stage with a customized Florida license plate, the band began to perform. Beginning with “Coming Apart” off their 2020 release Possession, the band had the crowd jumping and singing along from their first song.
The crowd had multiple highlights from the night including the band’s performances of “Tongues,” “Dangerous,” and their closer “Destruction.” If you missed out on seeing Joywave in concert, the band just released their first ever live album, Live¸ which manages to capture the energy and excitement that Joywave delivers in their shows, and I highly recommend checking out.
Frontman Daniel Armbruster made multiple jokes throughout the night that the audience audibly enjoyed. Armbruster talked about the band’s past Florida tour consisting of five different stops throughout the state, of which Tampa was the only city which they have returned to since. “If you ever see me in Jacksonville again, something is seriously wrong,” Armbruster would tease the crowd. He also discussed how the last venue they played in Tampa, the Orpheum, has since shut down, so IDKHOW better hope they have a stage to perform on once Joywave’s allotted time is up. The energy that the whole band had while on stage was one that was both welcoming and exciting to fans unfamiliar with their music in attendance for their headlining partner.
Throughout the night it was clear that the show truly catered to all ages with many families in attendance. The evidence of the bands’ wide audience range was clear from the signs in the crowd adorned with “tonight is my fathers 50th birthday,” to the children of staff members who sang along while dancing in the side stages.
IDKHOW was the final act to take the stage. Fronted by ex-member of Panic! At The Disco, Dallon Weekes, the band celebrated their first album’s release in 2020 by the name of RAZZMATAZZ. Kicking off their concert with the hit single, “Choke”, the trio had an electric start. They continued on with a great performance including “New Invention” and “Do It All The Time” alongside a fantastic cover of “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.”
Weekes was interacting with the crowd often, telling stories, asking the pronunciation of words, and explaining why they perform things the way they do. For example, they don’t play encores because they think its silly to go off stage and stand in the dark just to come back on stage and sing more. Instead, they played right through their setlist for the audience to enjoy.
The strong lineup of fantastic and differing artists made for a very entertaining show that should be attended if possible. The Welcome to Hellvetica continues on through the southeastern US before heading overseas to Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, and more for the European leg of the tour.
