Friday night, WAVVES sauntered on stage of the 40 Watt Club for a performance that left me conflicted. The good, the bad and the ugly came in wavves (get it?).
For starters, the crowd was bouncing off the walls before WAVVES was even close to hitting the stage. Mosh pits ensued when a sound tech was checking the microphones, and I knew it was going to be a wild set. However, the most exciting part about the performance was the crowd’s constant energy. It vibrated across the whole club and was able to ignite even the bartenders on their most popular songs. While I was able to enjoy their most famous tracks, “Way Too Much“, “Heavy Metal Detox“, and thier closer, “Green Eyes“, the members of WAVVES never seemed excited to be in Athens. They rarely ever interacted- let alone connected – with the audience. There was a weird disconnect between the raving, crowd surfing, song chanting audience and the band (see low quality picture above).
Overall, the performance felt more like the crew was following a set list than truly enjoying the rock club atmosphere and rad music scene that Athens is never short on.
I know that if I had a crowd screaming my songs in full and overpowering my amps, I would be reciprocating that loyalty. However, the bassist, Stevie Pope, managed to snap a bass string after a hardcore performance of “Heavy Metal Detox”, claiming that it was his “first broken string in the six years he has been playing withWAVVES”. So maybe, chilled performances are just the band’s vibe, and in fact, this performance was the most hyped the band has gotten. Nonetheless, we came for a concert and left with busted ear drums. Check and mate.
If you enjoy a slightly mellowed version of Blink 182 and Weezer, I would definitely check out their new album,V, featuring “Way Too Much” and “Heavy Metal Detox“.
Rock on.
-Charlotte Norsworthy