February 6, 2025

The Wallows played at one of my favorite new venues in Omaha, the Astro on a Thursday evening in February. Prior to the concert, my sisters and I met at The City Pub, a new bar located across the street from The Astro for dinner. This was a highly convenient spot to meet before the concert, allowing for prime parking as we arrived much earlier than most people to the area. We were able to eat and take our time getting to the venue after the initial crowds went down. The food was decent, but the prices were higher than expected, likely due to it being so new. I got a plain chicken sandwich to fit in with my current WeightWatchers diet. However, the traditional bar food appeared to be much better, especially for my youngest sister who got classic fried chicken strips that looked amazing.

After eating, we popped right across the street to The Astro in time to catch the opener, Deb Never. Usually my first stop after entering a venue is the merch table. This time I had to pass. The merch was well done by the Wallows, but the line was absolutely not worth the wait. Doors had been open for at least thirty minutes by the time we got in, yet the merch line still wrapped around the whole foyer several times and had started spilling into the music hall. I imagine people waited well over an hour to secure precious merch.

So, instead of waiting, we went inside to listen to the talented Deb Never. Before that night, we had never heard of Deb Never, but we instantly became fans. Her voice was excellent live and her music was most calm and day-dreamy. My favorite songs were her more up-beat more rock style songs that I hope she releases more of in the future. After Deb Never and a short wait to reset the stage, the Wallows came on and played an incredible show. I will be completely honest, I haven’t always loved the Wallows music or their lead singer Dylan Minnette’s voice. I’ve been a listener since they started out under the Wallows name back in my early college days, yet some of their albums and songs are too slow to warrant listening to over and over and Minnette’s voice sometimes sounds a bit nasal-ey. That said, they completely blew me away. Their energy was strong, even during their slower songs, and they sounded way better live—which is not a compliment I throw out lightly. The crowd also surprised me. For a sold out show with many fans showing up to support Minnette and Braeden Lemasters, who both got their starts as actors, I expected to be packed in like sardines and shoved around relentlessly by obsessed teenagers. Instead, the crowd was extremely respectful, blaring out the lyrics to their favorite songs while keeping respectful distances.

An extremely creative set design accompanied the show well. To start, a large white curtain hung in front of the stage with just the band’s name illuminated. When the band took the stage they were backlit, their shadows being cast on the curtain. They played most of the first song in this fashion, the crowd going absolutely wild once the curtain finally dropped. The curtain revealed a stage with the cover of the band’s newest album hanging behind the band members. This simple yet effective design helped the band stand out on stage. Later during the set, the light show started. The mesmerizing colors illuminated the venue perfectly.

The band members are all extremely talented. Lemasters and Minnette play with dummer, Cole Preston. Each plays several instruments and sings for the band. One of my favorite parts of the set included Minnette taking the drums from Preston, who grabbed his guitar and ran to the front of the stage to sing. This role-switch was unique and highly entertaining. Later in the set, Lemasters ran around The Astro interacting with the crowd. Everyone loved it according to the delighted screams that erupted through the crowd. My sisters and I spent the whole night dancing around and enjoying ourselves. This concert was so much fun!

OVERALL RATINGS

Setlist: 8/10

Merch: 7.5/10

Set Design: 8.9/10

Artist Commentary: 7/10

Vibes: 9/10