iDKHOW & Joywave hit St. Louis hard

The Welcome To Helvetica Tour made its fourth stop on its run across the U.S., with Joywave and I Don’t Know How But They Found Me (iDKHOW) putting on a double header of epic proportions at The Pageant in St. Louis. Both bands brought a rock-solid indie pop show that left fans screaming for more.

Opening the show was Nashville-born singer and songwriter Savannah Conley.

In a rare twist (due to the band’s guitarist having to leave the tour for a personal emergency), Savannah opened the show solo, singing slow and moody songs that lulled the audience into a quiet trance. Between her sad ballads, Savannah did a great job of engaging the crowd, bantering with them and cracking jokes. After a few songs, the remaining members of the band joined Conley onstage to finish out the set with enthusiasm, which brought the crowd back to life and raised the energy levels for Joywave, who came on next.

Joywave — an indie pop band from Rochester, New York — took the stage and the crowd instantly went wild. Performing in front of the back end of an old Corvette and with neon “Outrun” style visuals playing in the background, the band has a very interesting aesthetic which feels like a combination of 80s sci-fi and early 2000s design. Musically, they have an airy, dreamy pop quality to their sounds, with lead singer Daniel Armbruster crooning his way across the stage and into the hearts of the young crowd which came to see him.

Following Joywave’s performance, the second headliner of the night took the stage.

I Don’t Know How But They Found Me (often shortened to iDKHOW) is another indie pop band, this time from Salt Lake City, Utah. They opened the show by alluding to previous bands that some of their members had been apart of and instructed the crowd to forget about that history, and enjoy the new group without the shadows of their previous projects (which I’m going to take their advice and not mention in this review). Due to their complicated history, the band originally had to form in secrecy, performing shows in small venues. However, this band has way more than small venue energy. It was clear from their performance that they are at home on stages of any size and know how to please a crowd — no matter how big or small. The band’s lead singer, Dallon Weekes, alternated between shredding on the guitar and bouncing around the stage, belting the pop punk bangers that the crowd was dying to hear. It surprised me how many radio hits this band has had without the name recognition that usually accompanies such success. Catchy bangers like “Leave Me Alone” and a cover of Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is A Place on Earth” had the crowd singing along, really highlighted Weekes’ unique voice. The show also felt a bit more special, because Weekes is from a small town in Missouri, so performing in St. Louis seemed like a homecoming of sorts. Be sure to catch the Welcome to Helvetica Tour as it continues across the U.S. this fall!

Photography by Sean Rider

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