Wavves

Set Your LIFE to MUSIC Featuring Wavves @ The Boulevard Pool At The Cosmopolitan (2013)

That_Band_Changed_My_Life

Somebody between Live Nation and the Cosmopolitan Hotel dreamed up a quirky "Set Your Life to Music" concert series that will see artists like Blink-182 and Minus the Bear perform in a ‘backyard setting' atop the high-rise's Boulevard pool deck, which provides the atmosphere, grandeur, and all of the allure that is distinctly incumbent to Las Vegas. Despite the premature and untimely death of Jay Reatard, Stephen Pope and Billy Hayes had aleady defected to Nathan Williams' Wavves, which in turn brought the band to maturity through the release of 2010's critically acclaimed King of the Beach. Although the Pope-Hayes partnership once again proved magical, Williams' continuing inability to maintain a steady drummer saw the departure of Hayes for Jacob Cooper, leaving Pope to singly corral Williams to greater heights and greatness during Wavves 2013 album Afraid of Heights. Although categorically surf-rock, the punx aesthetic of the band lends itself beyond the self-identification as such, and the group seems a Fest performance from orgcore-demigod-status.

An admittedly outrageous description for a Billboard-charting, Pitchfork sucking indie rock band high atop Sin City's strip–flush with camera crews, hipsters, megatrons, and multinational corporate sponsors–Wavves played up the extraordinary situation as the ‘worst show ever,' offering amazing self-deprecating dialogue, disgusting facial close-ups (via megatron), and an onstage-largeframe-finger-down-the-throat-puke by frontman Williams. Furthermore, this energy, showmanship, and song selection was and is a surefire route to a cementing within American underground culture–if not a downright ticket into the mainstream that demonstrates the band's ability to transcend a shtick or trendy sound through performance and ability, rather than the typical obscurity-based-propulsion-and-implosion in which the indie rock world bases its entire appeal and existence.

In particular, Wavves aren't ashamed of why people like them–and rather than hold out and fight back, Williams & Co. embrace it, first firing off hits from King of the Beach before meandering into new material and the obligatory new album push. The group interacted casually with the audience, without the self-importance that the stage and situation dictated, truly becoming a band of the people and performing pragmatic crowd work. To this effect, Wavves were candid and upfront about their ability and desire to play only fifteen songs, in addition to short-lived, fuck-off renditions of "Closing Time," banter regarding Ben Weasel, and a Tim Kasher-esque wit that had Williams saying, "ask me anything"–to which he replied, "shit–whoah–nevermind!"–seemingly taken aback by the depth of Wavves' fan base's intimate knowledge and/or thirst for shocking gossip.

Throughout a deluge of over-hyped and under-performing pieces of shit–the musical hallmark of the twenty-tens–an acceleration of the immediate dismissal, contempt for, and mockery of contemporary culture occurs. But, it all seems worth it while watching Wavves.

Set List:
Idiot
King of the Beach
Super Soaker
New Song
Bug
Post Acid
Friends Were Gone
Linus Spacehead
Demon to Lean On
Paranoid
Beat Me Up
100% (Cover)
Sail to the Sun
Green Eyes
Cop