Article and Photos by: Stephanie Snape
Toronto, On — The lineup started around ten a.m. on the morning of March 11th. Anyone passing by might wonder what was going on, but inside the venue, everyone was preparing for the Waterparks show that night. The Houston-born pop-punk band played to a nearly sold-out crowd at History Toronto. They were joined on this tour by Loveless and Toronto native, Sophie Powers.
Sophie Powers started the night off with one of her newer songs ‘Obsessed’ and got the crowd hyped up before playing other songs from her Red in Revenge EP. Watching Sophie perform makes it so hard to forget she’s only nineteen, with her huge stage presence and her connection with the audience. When introducing one of her songs, she asked if anyone had ever broken up with someone, and the reaction from the crowd was hilarious. She creates a dynamic that people can feed off of, and it makes for a captivating set.
Loveless took the stage next with a dramatic flair. The duo seemed to be having a blast dancing across the stage and singing to an adoring audience. Lead singer, Julian Comeau and multi-instrumentalist Dylan Tirapelli-Jamail bounced across the stage as they sang several songs off both their Loveless I and End of an Era albums. This was still before they rocked through a mash-up of ‘Happier than ever/ Running up that hill /Middle of the night.’ Those songs got fans screaming along. They closed out their set with their song ‘worst case scenario’ which was the perfect song to end with; as it got everyone even more amped up–if that were even possible!
Finally, when the lights went out and the stage lit up, the band appeared. Taking their respective spots, Otto Wood on drums, and Geoff Wigington on guitar. Awsten Knight appeared last, entering through one of the doors in their stage display, he immediately started their set with their song ‘Watch What Happens Next’ and the energy in the crowd was beyond palpable. ‘Stupid for You’ played not too long after and was accompanied by a sea of crowd surfers, which is always an interesting part of a show. Seeing the faces of the crowd surfers as they come out from the pit and run right back into the crowd is always an experience. Awsten even remarked that this was the most crowd surfers they’d had for that song yet on tour. Waterparks played several songs from each of their albums before a brief interlude to discuss the workings of religious guilt, before jumping into ‘Sneaking out of heaven.’
While all the performers put on a fantastic show, I was truly blown away by Waterparks. It is especially nice to see them getting more and more recognition. They have in the past opened for and toured with the likes of You Me At Six, Sum 41, Good Charlotte and All Time Low.