Live: Waterparks Brings The Property Tour to NYC
Waterparks brought The Property Tour to Irving Plaza in NYC this week. The sold-out venue was packed as fans bearing Waterparks merch and matching Awsten's iconic tour makeup crowded the stage.
Elliott Lee opened the night with their alt-pop songs. Their set included their latest single, “Fun,” as well as an unreleased song coming June 9th, before ending with “Pink Freak” that had everybody dancing, even the security guards.
Wearing matching retro headphones, Hunny took the stage next. The bass and guitar duo pointed out that this was the first time on tour they were so far apart as the drum set separated them to the left and right on stage. Running through their set, Hunny squeezed in twelve songs, including their hits “Vowels (And the Importance of Being Me,” “JFK,” and “Televised,” before ending with “Sports with Strangers.” The band gave it their all and came off stage soaked in sweat.
Dimmed lights announced Waterparks’ arrival as the band filed out on stage. Emerging from darkness to the sound of excited fans screaming, singer Awsten Knight kicked off “ST*RFUCKER.”
While dressed in a giant red puffer with the hood pulled up, Awsten ran all over the stage. Pulling back the hood for “Numb,” Awstem revealed the red star eye makeup he’s been sporting all tour that matches his red dyed hair and inspired a trend of fans creating similar makeup looks. Guitarist Geoff Wigington matched with a small red heart under his eye.
The puffer finally came off during the third song as Knight picked up his guitar for “Rare." Waterparks fans go hard! Along with the singing and screaming were crowd surfers. In the photo pit, I got slammed into as security caught one of the surfers as they crossed over the barricade. U checked getting my shit rocked off the list that night, but it was amazing to see so many people quite literally coming together to lift and support each other.
With five studio albums in their discography, Waterparks managed to include songs from each album. Typically, earlier songs get dropped from a set list in a touring cycle in favor of the new songs. However, Waterparks kept the throwbacks "Royal" and “Rare.” From older songs to 8 out of the 11 tracks appearing on their latest album Intellectual Property, there was something for everyone.
In between “Ritual” and “I Miss Having Sex,” the set list simply read (whatever Awsten is doing). George and drummer Otto Woods left the stage for Awsten to do his thing. That turned out to be an acoustic version of “Dream Boy” and “11:11”. Dimming the lights and only having the disco ball on created a magical atmosphere for the singer to connect with the fans with his acoustic guitar.
“Show the shit” is not something you hear chanted every day, but that shows you how a Waterparks show can lead into strange territory. The chant originated with Awsten explaining how he’s seen two species take a shit in New York (typical NY for you) and had a picture of one. Grabbing his phone, Awsten airdropped the photo to a few, before playing “Funeral Grey” into the microphone for the crowd to Shazam. Aside from prompting a chant about shit, Awsten also led the crowd in singing a very fast happy birthday to one of the crew members.
The night was filled with movement. With Awsten yelling to "bounce," "jump," or "open a pit," nobody was ever standing still. It was clear that New York was having a blast.
Catch Waterparks on tour here to experience The Property Tour in its full glory. It’s a show you don’t want to miss!
See photos from the show here.