Braeden Lemasters had two words for all Milwaukeeans at Wallows’ debut show in the city: Giannis. Antetokounmpo.
The Los Angeles-based alternative rock band consists of Lemasters, Cole Preston, and Actor Dylan Minnette. Minnette is best known for his roles in Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why,” and the recent “Scream” movie.
Minnette proved that his guitar, drumming and singing skills match his acting chops through the night’s performance. The band kicked off the night with “Hard to Believe” from their album Tell Me That It’s Over, which came out earlier this year.
Beach balls spawned into the crowd during their next song, “Remember When.” Audience members cheered and laughed in excitement as they volleyed at each other.
“Give it up again for the beach balls,” Minnette said after completing the song’s performance. “That was fun.”
After a handful of songs that featured Lemasters and Minnette on lead vocals, Drummer Cole Preston took center stage for the song “Quarterback,” which was a highlight for fans based on their rection.
The energy did not stop there, however, because Dylan Minnette reclaimed the frontman role during “OK.” All eyes were on him as Minnette commanded the stage. He did a quick jump onto the general admission barricade, in a surprise to fans that had been waiting for hours before the show.
“We’re really happy to play stuff off of the new album,” Minnette said, after returning onto the stage. The band followed his statement by performing “Hurts Me.”
“I want to say two words to Milwaukee right now,” said Lemasters. “Giannis. Antetokounmpo.” Lemasters shouted out, following up with a sing-songy rendition of the Milwaukee Bucks-2019-and-2020 MVP’s name.
During “1980s Horror Film II,” Lemasters did a silly basketball dribbling impression. The band reshared a video from a fan on Instagram with the caption “@braedenlemasters breaking ankles on stage tonight,” with the sound of squeaky tennis shoes.
The opener, spill tab, had some fun anecdotes about Wisconsin as well. The Los Angeles-based singer has a friend from Oconomowoc. She shared that her friend had given her a block of cheese as a gift. Even though she’s lactose intolerant— she’s a cheese lover. For that reason, the Milwaukee crowd welcomed her with open arms.
Even though the performers of the night joked around with Milwaukee about sports and cheese, Minnette got a tad more sentimental about the city.
“This is a pretty beautiful city,” Minnette said. “We were blown away by how beautiful it is. We had a really good time.”
Wallows performed five more songs before starting their debut 2017 single, “Pleaser.” The band and crowd rocked out more than the entire night during the indie-inspired track. Minnette had a tasteful harmonica solo during the song.
As an encore, the band started with “Do Not Wait,” the closing song for their 2019 album, Nothing Happens. Next, they took an audience request, “I’m Full.”
The show was closed out with the band’s biggest hit, “Are You Bored Yet? (feat. Clairo),” which hit a peak of 16 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay charts. Minnette held the microphone out during Clairo’s verse, and the crowd did not disappoint by singing along.
As the song ended, bandmembers tossed their guitar picks and drumsticks into the crowd, before departing with smiles and waves.
Awesome 👏