After being absent from Europe since late 2023, the band Waterparks finally made their way back to the continent this month, playing the last show of the ‘mainland’ leg in the 013 in Tilburg on March 15th. Usually when a band tours, they have a new record to promote, but in Waterparks’ case, there’s no new record (yet!)
The European tour came with a couple of challenges for the band, as their support act had to drop off unexpectedly. Because of this, the European shows were opened by local DJs playing a bunch of emo bangers, with songs by bands like State Champs and Paramore, mixed with the more nostalgic throwback bands like Cobra Starship. The fans clearly don’t care there’s no support acts tonight though, as they’re ready to go all out from start to finish for Waterparks.
Since this tour isn’t attached to a new project, there’s a bit more room for the trio to play around. The show is divided into a couple of different emotional sections, starting with “happiness.” The first section has the more upbeat and optimistic songs, with their popular “Stupid For You” opening the poppier section. Last year, the band did a handful of small shows in cities like New York and London, where they started to include some fan choices into the setlist. Since that clearly worked for them, the Houston band incorporated this interactive element into this set as well. The first choice of the night was between “Peach” and “Telephone,” the latter being the choice for the first fan. Guitarist Geoff Wigington happily moves from the left to the right of the stage every so often, clearly feeling the joy in playing as well, seemingly shredding a little more during the newer Intellectual Property songs.
“Happiness” got followed by “sadness,” with the more heartbreaking songs, so the crowd could get all their tears out of the way. The choice for “Gloom Boys” over “Not Warriors” in this section fortunately didn’t leave fans of the latter devastated for too long, as a snippet of that got played during the acoustic section that followed. The acoustic portion leaves Awsten Knight on stage by himself, which gives him the opportunity to connect with the audience as well. This is the first time the band is playing in this city, with the fans reminding the singer of the Utrecht 2023 show with the “UUU” city pride chant the other city is known for. Awsten clearly remembers that well, and he even goes as far to say he’d likely move to this country if he ever leaves the US, clearly feeling the vibe of the Dutch fans wherever they play.
Waterparks usually is very strict on playing mostly songs off the record they’re touring on, so songs like “Crybaby” or “I Felt Younger When We Met” aren’t usually played live, but it’s these deep cuts that get the crowd hyped the most… aside from the to be released new record, which is teased during the next section of anticipation. We learn that the trio is done with their following full length record, which is to be released later this year. The fans get to hear a preview of the song “Prowler,” the tour’s namesake, as well as the three songs released over the last year. The upcoming record truly has been in the works for a long while, but if the response of the fans is any indication, it’s going to be worth the wait.
During this section and the following “anger,” drummer Otto Wood truly gets go all in, absolutely ripping at his drums as hard as he possibly can, as these are the louder sections on the setlist tonight. The setlist is built up so extremely well, really leading us through an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. The last heavier and scream-worthy songs are perfect for a respectable moshpit and crowd surfing, which is done with a lot of enthusiasm by a bunch of fans. It’s the perfect lead-up to go all out for the encore “LIKE IT.” The band made a great choice in structuring their setlist in this manner, and by not just putting focus on their newer records, they really showcased how far they’ve come and how much more is in store for the future.
Waterparks will hopefully come back to the Europe soon enough, which is more than likely sometime after their upcoming release. Until then, the band still has the UK leg of tour to enjoy. For the upcoming week, they’ll be joined by Irish band Greywind as support act. Tickets for the upcoming shows are still (sparingly) available through https://www.waterparksband.com/.
GALLERY: Waterparks at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands (March 15, 2026)
