Live Review: Waterparks - Manchester Academy, 29/01/2020
Self-proclaimed ‘Gods Favourite Boyband’ brought their neon hair, catchy tunes and masses of fans to the city of Manchester for night one of their two night sold out stay.
Kicking off the night was De’Wayne Jackson, with his fascinating character and energetic dance moves getting the crowd moving was something he did not struggle to do, with his collection of to the point, genre crossing tracks there was something for everyone.
Bursting onto the stage with their track ‘Cherry Red’, a perfect song to open the show with the buildable vocals. It was initially hard to hear the vocals of Awsten Knight over the crowds screams, once these died down Awsten and the fans sang every word together with a sense of unity.
Waterparks proved their ability to play a range of music, playing upon this throughout the night having the crowd going crazy during ‘Blonde’ and ‘I Miss Having Sex But Atleast I Don’t Want To Die Anymore’ to ‘Lucky People’ and ’21 Questions’ where fans had phone lights in the air and tears on their faces.
After a brief lesson on British politicians, fans attempted to teach the band the difference between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, and it was decided the accent barrier was too much and the fans should tweet them links after the show so they can research. It was now time for the classic Manchester cover, fans shouting for the band to play ‘Wonderwall’, agreeing to this it was soon noticed that Awsten needed some help from their photographer John who held up the guitar tabs for him to follow.
Finishing the night, the band broke into a medley of hits from their previous album ‘Entertainment’ the fans took this as their time to scream every word back to the band, with the floor bouncing and crowd surfers all over the crowd you can see how much this band means to both the fans and the band themselves.
One thing that was clear is whatever this band put out the fans will absorb, whether that’s music, merchandise or hair dye. With a sea of glow-in-the-dark green hair matching front man Awsten’s it was clear the black lights the band had brought had proved useful, adding an extra special touch to the Waterparks show.
The Texan trio have worked tirelessly since their 2011 formation, with three studio albums, earlier EP’s and the countless number of tours under their belt you can see why the fans are so hooked on the band, their live and infectious energy makes for a powerful and rememberable performance. To sum up the show in the words of a fan on her way out of the concert “I’m never going to forget that”. This is only the start for Waterparks and it’s safe to say they aren’t slowing down anytime soon.
Words and Photography by Becca Arnold
