I Don’t Know How But They Found Me at House of Blues, San Diego

I Don’t Know How But They Found Me (IDK How for short) stopped in San Diego on January 19th for the second show on their Thought Reform Tour. Though they had a U.S tour before this one, this was their first time hitting San Diego since before the pandemic!

They were joined by Superet, who kicked off the night. If you’re looking for a band that has a pretty chill, yet groovy vibe, definitely check out Superet!! They’re just feel-good music that instantly puts you in a good mood! They played their song “Prism” live for the first time and it was such a beautiful duet with Laura Jean Anderson. Lead singer Matt Blitzer played an Autoharp during that song, in which he said he learned to play during quarantine. They played a lot of their new music and Matt jokily said, “You guys wanna hear a couple new ones?…. Like you even have a choice!”

I thought I had enough time to run to the bathroom in between sets, but, all of a sudden, I heard a roar of screams, so I got super nervous that IDK How was already coming onstage, so I ran out to see people cheering for… plants! They brought out four big plants and I honestly really loved that little aesthetic touch!

IDK How kicked off their set with “Leave me Alone”, which is off their debut album, ‘Razzmatazz’, released in late 2020.

Lead singer Dallon Weekes explained that, “Even though you may hear saxophones, pianos and string sections in the songs, there are, in fact, only three of us up here onstage.” He explained that all the extra sounds you hear are computer made, because having extra instruments “costs Daddy money” and he would rather spend that money on “shiny guitars and pretty signs”. Money well spent, in my opinion!

They played a cover of “Visitation of Ghost” which is by The Brobecks, a band that both Dallon and drummer Ryan Seaman used to play in. During the song, Dallon licked a guitar pick and stuck it on his forehead; it stayed up there for the whole rest of the song. In the middle of the song, though, they played a little snippet of Bon Jovi’s “Living On A Prayer” and everybody was screaming the lyrics! After that Bon Jovi moment, they finished off “Visitation of Ghosts” in spectacular fashion.

IDK How played a lot of songs from their latest album, like “Sugar Pills”, “Mad IQ’s”, “New Invention” and “Razzmatazz”, but also played a couple of songs from their older EP, 1981 Extended Play, like “Do It All the Time”, “Absinthe” and “Social Climb”. Their second to last song was another Brobecks cover called “Better Than Me” and Dallon said that it hasn’t been played in over a decade! He was so humbled at the end of the song to see that a lot more people knew the song then he thought would!

During the last song “Choke”, we got to hear a solo from “the imaginary saxophone player”!

IDK How puts on such a fun show and keeps you entertained even in between songs. If they are making a stop in your town on this tour, make sure to check them out, because it’s an experience that you definitely don’t want to miss!

Photography by Kaiya Vandemark

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