Wheatus @ Thekla 15/10/2023

Where: Thekla – Bristol, England (UK)

Venue rating: 10/10

Who I went with: Myself

Where I stayed: YHA Bristol Hostel (I thankfully had a private room)

How I travelled there: Walked (the venue is beside the hostel) after flying from Inverness the day before

Beverage of choice: Rosé

SETLIST:

I knew I had to see Wheatus when they came to Scotland but Thekla was on my ever-growing bucket list, so I got a ticket to see them there as well. It is a former cargo ship which has been transformed into an award winning music venue and I haven’t come across anywhere else like it. The band have certainly been having an eventful time on the road since I saw them in late September. Brendan B. Brown (frontman) and Brandon Ticer aka. Brandi (keyboards) both celebrated birthdays since then and the band battled a sickness bug which resulted in a few dates being postponed. They managed to add the places they missed on to the end of this same tour, which is some of the best organisation I’ve seen. There must be around fifty UK and Ireland dates on the tour, which is very unusual. They do different songs each night, so it is worth seeing them more than once if you have the means to do so. They always ask the crowd to choose the songs, so it is interesting to see how that pans out. They have so many great songs, it is hard to only pick one. This was evidenced by the crowd yelling dozens of song titles throughout the night from a mixture of albums. I am still impressed the band have rehearsed over sixty songs to perform on demand and they have even attempted unrehearsed covers such as ‘My Name Is Jonas’ by Weezer, who people often comically mix up with Wheatus. I had never been to Bristol (not properly) and woke up at sunrise to take in the beauty of Clifton Suspension Bridge and visit the aquarium next to the hostel because I am a big kid. Seeing Wheatus at Thekla was the perfect way to end one of my favourite trips away from home. They have performed there a number of times throughout the years and clearly have an emotional connection to the ship, expressing their desire for it to never be taken away.

I arrived just after the doors opened at seven o’clock and it was one of the most relaxed entry processes I have experienced, so hats off to the staff for doing a superb job. I printed out my ticket this time, which was simpler than messing about on my phone. I wish all tickets were physical, as I would have an impressive collection by now. I headed to the bar once I got inside and ordered a rosé since they had already run out of white wine! I was confused as they had only just opened but I let it slide. We didn’t have to wait long for Cheerbleederz to take to the stage, who were the teased extra opening act. They are described as an indie rock power trio, originating from London. The band consists of Kathryn Woods (guitar), Sophie MacKenzie (bass) and Phoebe Cross (drums). They all contribute to the vocals and have endearing and quirky personalities. They did an excellent job getting everyone livened up and setting the mood, with their upbeat music and good humour. Their style is enough of a contrast to Wheatus and MC Frontalot to add a lot of variety to the night and each of their songs are very catchy. My favourite of the bunch was probably ‘Cute As Hell’, which I am listening to as I write this. They said they came dressed as liquorice allsorts in black, white and a mixture of both shades. I don’t know whether this decision was in fact deliberate but I think it worked. They barely stood still, which made taking photos in the dim lighting even more challenging. They poked fun at themselves for being too old now to bend over backwards and perform similar acrobatics onstage but they could have fooled me as their stage presence was not awkward at all. They took a moment to promote their merchandise, focusing on the hats which featured in one of their music videos. They only managed to get three hats into the merch stall for some reason, making them very exclusive. They have a distinctive sound which sets them apart from most new acts that make the headlines and I am looking forward to hearing more of their songs.

MC Frontalot was fantastic again. He said Wheatus asked him to open for them because they don’t like performing for three hours like they did in their younger days, which got a few laughs. He revealed a massive screen at the back of the stage to display his music videos and lyrics, which was a definite upgrade from the small TV screen that had been wheeled out at Saint Luke’s. He worried the instruments belonging to “the cool kids” would obstruct the words but I thought they were still easy enough to follow. I liked that his set wasn’t repetitive at all, even though I had already heard the songs a couple of weeks beforehand. He mixed up the way he told the jokes before each song and had me laughing out loud when performing ‘Used To Be Young’ by Miley Cyrus on the keyboard, even though he admitted he had no previous experience whatsoever playing the instrument. He told us he nearly didn’t make it to the UK because he heard that song and still considers MC to be a child star. He claimed he crumbled into dust on the spot, making it very difficult to get past security! This was in the lead up to his song ‘This Old Man’, about considering himself too old to be a rapper. He said it has become less ironic throughout the years, as he wrote it when he was only thirty-one. He asked people to raise their hands if they consider themselves to be nerds as he specialises in “nerdcore” but only a handful did. He then wanted to know who has played ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ and commented it didn’t make sense for even more of us to raise our hands but not consider ourselves to be nerds. Everyone was engrossed during ‘Start Over’ and the crowd participation was out of this world, with everyone wagging their fingers back at him. I don’t normally seek out or enjoy this kind of music but appreciate his obvious talent and sense of humour. ‘Critical Hit’ is still my favourite, as it is a definite earworm.

Wheatus didn’t waste any time getting set up and BBB came forward to ask the first couple of rows what we wanted to hear, like he did in Glasgow. ‘Something Good’ was on the tip of my tongue because I am a huge fan of it and haven’t heard it live but I am an anxious being, so I left the decisions up to everyone else. I was spoiled rotten in Glasgow since I got to hear ‘The London Sun’ and ‘Mope’, so I was excited to see what everyone else wanted. I crossed my fingers for some new songs at this show and I lucked out because ‘No Happy Ending Tune’ and ‘Who Would Have Thought?’ were requested and are both from my favourite Wheatus album, ‘Too Soon Monsoon’. It is always thrilling to hear songs being performed for the first time on tours and these were brilliant choices. I love it when people ask for more obscure songs but I think ‘Fourteen’ made me the happiest, as it is another one of my favourites and an unexpected addition to the setlist. The crowd were in complete hysterics when BBB shared he got weird looks ordering a coffee with five shots of espresso in it from the shop next door and how a past crew member accused him of stealing and eating his “chip butty” which he was saving in the fridge after a night of heavy drinking, which might be the most British thing I have ever heard. There were a lot of boat references and even some lyric changes in honour of Thekla. I almost forgot we were on a ship until water started dripping on Brandi’s keyboard out of nowhere but he was a professional and laughed it off. 

I learned more about each of the songs, like how ‘Mary Mary Sea Serpent’ is about BBB’s grandmother who stole a boat as a child and somehow made it through Hell Gate, ‘Hump’Em N’ Dump’Em’ was written about a superhero who still needs to pay the rent and ‘Hey, Mr Brown’ was inspired by the band Quicksand. Many of their songs are witty and comedic but some have more serious messages, such as ‘Michelle’ (another surprise request) which is about women fighting for the rights over their own bodies. Matthew Milligan (bass) stormed off again during ‘Truffles’ when he appeared to have had enough of the eighties-style guitar solos but struggled to climb back on to the stage because of the layout of the venue, which was hilarious. One member of the crowd was determined to hear ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ but were assured that it is the one song they do not need to shout out as they wouldn’t go through a show without performing it! The band were in top form and each member had at least one stand-out moment. Another funny moment was when MM announced he was finding it easier to head-bang in a certain direction (being on an unstable ship) and KC Marotta took his advice and turned all the way around, making it impossible to continue playing the drums. Gabrielle Sterbenz and Joey Slater (backing vocalists) took centre-stage during ‘Who Would Have Thought?’ with predominantly all-female vocals, which was lovely. BBB powered through each song with endless charisma and confidence, possibly thanks to his aforementioned coffee order. I am in love with his voice and he has incredible range. He had plenty of opportunity to show off his ability to hit those high notes during ‘No Happy Ending Tune’ and the beloved ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, wowing us all.

It is difficult to compare this show to the one in Glasgow but I think this one may have come out slightly on top for me. There were a few rarities I didn’t think I would ever get to hear live and I would say Thekla has a better overall atmosphere, even though Glasgow crowds are always passionate and difficult to compete with. I think the fact it is a ship gives it the edge over most other venues, as I can’t name another one like it. I bought concert earplugs for protection since I have been going to so many music events these past few months and I don’t want to lose my hearing before I turn forty. I was fully prepared to remove them if they muffled the sound in any way but they actually allowed me to hear even better, so I was enjoying listening to all of the intricacies in the music I couldn’t make out before because my ears were too over-whelmed. The band seemed to be in their element and even though we got less songs (seventeen compared to twenty-one) I didn’t mind because we got the fabulous additional opening act, Cheerbleederz. I hope Wheatus won’t wait too long to return to the UK once this tour is over because I will definitely be back in line to purchase tickets. Their shows are very memorable and you can tell how proud they are of their entire discography, which is nice to see. They still have a lot of tour dates in the UK before returning to the US and I definitely recommend grabbing a ticket if they are coming to a city, town, village or hamlet near you!