Wallows sold out the O2 Academy, Birmingham for a stellar performance on the 14^th January 2023. This was only their second time playing in Birmingham, over three years after the first, therefore it was a much-anticipated return.

After catching their set at Reading Fest last year, I was looking forward to hearing more songs off their latest album, Tell Me That It’s Over. The venue was half-packed right from when doors opened, with a long tailback of people waiting to be let in. The support act was MAY-A, an Australian indie-rock artist with a lot of energy. There were some self-acknowledged cliché moments throughout her set, such as when she asked everyone to get down on the floor before jumping up, but these made the performance enjoyable.

The stage was set with several lamps for Wallows, creating an intimate ambience, despite the large venue they were playing to. Kicking off with ‘I Don’t Want To Talk’, Wallows were met with many excited cries. ‘Remember When’, the second song of the night, was when the crowd suddenly became livelier. As one of Wallows’ most popular tracks, it was a joy to hear and frantically bounce about to. Their musicianship was exhibited on ‘Treacherous Doctor’, which was completely elevated live. I love the stripped back version of the song, live from Henson Studios, because it highlights Braeden Lemasters and Dylan Minnette’s vocals. However, what stood out on the night was the instrumental section, which rose to a thrilling crescendo before cutting back to the chorus. The performance were extremely tight.

A highlight of the set was ‘At The End Of The Day’. The song differs from Wallows usual style, with elements of shoegaze, sounding as if it could be from the 80s. Lemasters vocals were captivating on this song, pulling us away temporally from the surroundings of the O2 Academy. Minnette’s vocals were more pronounced live, complementing  Lemasters.

The set also featured a number of Wallows’ older singles, including ‘Sun Tan’, ‘Pictures of Girls’ and ‘1980s Horror Film II’. Lemasters strolled around during the latter, holding a bouquet of roses, owning the stage without his guitar to hand. The earlier singles were met with much excitement from the crowd. One of Wallows’ strengths is that they all have the chance to take the spotlight; in ‘Quarterback’, Cole Preston and Minnette swapped instruments. Preston is charming when he is given the opportunity to take centre stage, partially because he still seems slightly shy when doing so.

During ‘Marvellous’, Minnette accidentally sent his tambourine flying into the crowd (luckily nobody was hurt), which was amusing for both the crowd and Dylan, who announced that he had never done that particular stunt before.

Despite this slight distraction, the performance never let up. Wallows followed with ‘Just Like A Movie’ and ‘Scrawny’, before ending with ‘Guitar Romantic Search Adventure’. I was particularly excited to hear this live. The song closes the album cyclically, ending with the lyrics ‘Don’t tell me that it’s over’, in response to the earlier line ‘Tell me that it’s over’ that Minnette sings on ‘I Don’t Want To Talk’. Whilst this line suggests Minnette is feeling insecure in a relationship and therefore anticipating the end, the conclusion of the album signifies that they have come to accept their feelings. It is also a poignant line, as we did not want the performance to be over.

‘Guitar Romantic Search Adventure’ is beautiful, starting softly and building to a instrumental before Minnette cuts in with his most heartfelt and honest lyrics on the album. The rest of the band left the stage, leaving Minnette onstage alone with his guitar to close off the song, as it gently came to an end.

After the crowd chanted ‘one more song’, Wallows returned to perform ‘Are You Bored Yet?’, closing off what was a joyful night of songs, old and new. Their boundless energy never dipped throughout the entire set. Wallows’ enthusiasm for performing was clearly visible, making the evening a great experience for all.