Los Angeles’ Kia Forum lit up on Thursday, September 12th, as alternative rock band Wallows closed out the North American leg of their Model tour. Formed in 2017, the band consists of three friends-turned-band mates — Dylan Minnette (who gained acting fame from Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why”), Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston. This performance at the Kia Forum represents a milestone in Wallows’ career, selling out the roughly 15,000 seats at the show.
The band began the show with a haunting silhouette of Minnette projected larger than life onto the stage’s curtain, as the track “Do Not Wait” from their debut LP Nothing Happens further electrified the crowd, which had been waiting on the edge of their seats for the show to begin.
As the curtain fell and the rest of the band was revealed in full glory, the venue was filled with the catchy intro to the group’s single “Your Apartment” from their latest album, Model. With lyrics that almost anyone can relate to — a trademark of Wallows’ lyricism and song-writing — the song received arguably the loudest cheers and audience participation of the evening’s show. Alternating between main vocalist Minnette and second vocalist Lemasters (with the rare vocal appearance of drummer Preston during the performance of “Quarterback”), the show continued with high energy and an abundance of showmanship from the band members onstage.
The real turning point in the show’s ambience came during the group’s performance of “She’s an Actress,” when the group exited the main stage and made their way through the crowd in the pit to a secondary stage, interacting with fans along the way. This has become a staple of any Wallows show, with fans in the pit even knowing to prepare a tunnel with their arms for the group to move through. As they arrived at the secondary stage, Minnette lit the three lamps onstage, creating an intimate and warm environment for the group’s slower tracks. The entranced audience, and crowd interaction continued, with Lemasters even bringing a fan onstage to sing the last line of his track “1980s Horror Film”. The band made their way back to the stage — with Lemasters making a detour through the seated crowd on the way, only briefly interrupted by Minnette’s thoughtful concern for a fan close to the stage who was in need of attention.
The show ended with the 2019 release that propelled Wallows to mainstream fame, “Are You Bored Yet?” (whose studio version features indie-pop princess Clairo.) This encore made palpable what the group had been expressing all night — that after growing up in Los Angeles attending shows at the venue, performing at the Kia Forum will forever hold a special place in their career and hearts. It was a night neither Wallows nor their fans will ever forget.
