Concert Review: Waterparks Have Got The Power

With gifts being tossed at him like he was the last king of the world, had total power over that audience. They could joke, scold, and talk to them with a dominance that shows why, some, want to be artists. It truly is a power and thus a privilege.

If there is one thing that I always see among so many artists it is their search for validation and attention; believing the audience is their biggest source for a universal love. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING! For Waterparks, that search for love, acceptance, and notice is, in part, why people feel burnt out. It is like we are all a bunch of candlesticks at the end of our wicks, and that irony is that everyone at Brooklyn Steel was young. So….. why the hell were we burnt out?

Technically, we are coming off of “two years of rest,” and I have documented in my previous reviews how Covid was the “elephant” in every room. People feel grateful to get “back to life” in terms of fun….. but what about work, school, and all other place of social interaction/ collision? Now, I will not be that “old woman” who curses sky for making Twitter and ruining empathy, but Waterparks’ music, in essence, should have them being called “teardrops.” They are all about sadness, frustration, and the feeling that “being” you is exuberantly useless.

Imagine that! Your youth being the biggest of waste of time! Call the AARP, so they can celebrate! Yet, what shook me about the audience, punk pop Waterparks blasted, and their overall “push-pull” dynamic with the crowd of ribbing jokes and riffing tracks, is that it was all based on a mass unity of self-loathing. No matter how much they sugared or salted their chords, their melodies did not lie: being young can make you feel really old.