On August 31st Wallows brought their “Model” tour to Sterling Heights Michigan, a suburb in Detroit. Wallows, (Dylan Minniette, Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston) is an alt-rock band formed in 2017 from Los Angeles California and they released their 3rd album, Model on May 24th, 2024.
For this tour, their opener was Benee, an Indie/Alternative New Zealand singer. Benee’s music was incredible, I don’t think I’ve heard anything like it before, her songs have this incredible pop vibe and her New Zealand accent really puts it over the top. She had such a captivating stage presence and was so lively while performing, a perfect choice for an opening act.
Wallows’s show began with them standing behind a dark curtain with only a spotlight reflecting their shadows. The first song they sang was called Do Not Wait, which repeats the lyric “Do not wait, Do not wait, I’ll be there” multiple times, which I believe is an incredible way to open a show. Most people buy tickets for concerts months in advance and countdown the days until it happens, so by opening with this song they said “The wait is over! We’re finally here!”.
They then proceeded by playing a lot of their popular, upbeat songs, getting everyone super excited for the night ahead. Wallow’s songs are the best to hear live, they have the perfect indie, coming-of-age movie feeling and are so much fun to jump around to.
At one part in the show, the lead singer Dylan Minniette came into the crowd as he was singing, giving everyone high fives. Not to brag but, he walked right by me and no, I haven’t shut up about it since.
After going into the crowd, the band sat on a little stage and performed a short acoustic set. I think this was a brilliant idea, they got to be closer to their fans despite the large venue and shared an intimate moment with everyone.
The entire show was a blast, they had incredible set changes all matching their album “Model”, and they had gorgeous lighting, my favorite being when the slower songs began and the background turned into a bunch of stars. Wallows never fails to disappoint with their concerts and albums and they deserve so much more credit for it. Both Benee and Wallows put on a fantastic show and I’m excited to see what the future holds for them.