The LA native indie-alternative band, Winnetka Bowling League, stopped back home in Los Angeles this Thursday, November 11th, to bring their headlining tour to the Echoplex. They brought along the pop singer songwriter, GAYLE, to open the show and stack the bill with talent. Fans lined the street prior to doors, eagerly awaiting to get into the venue to watch a band they had waited two years to see play in LA again. There is nothing more exciting than walking into a Winnetka Bowling League show, and everyone inside the venue was feeling the same exhilaration as I was.
GAYLE graced the stage a little after 8:00pm, starting the show off on a humorous note as she went to sing her first song and her microphone was still off. She didn’t let that phase her though as she rolled with it after making a joke about her professionalism, and immediately hooked the crowd in with her vocals and unique sound. After starting the show with a bang she rolled into her second song of the night, the unreleased soon to be hit, “FMK”, but not before again throwing in some of the wittiest banter I had ever heard on stage. She thanked the crowd for coming out and expressed her gratitude to Winnetka Bowling League for having her as this tour was the first time she had been back on stage since January 2020. GAYLE then went on to keep the energy up with her songs “sleeping with friends” and “you’re just horny” which had the entire crowd relating to the lyrics and swaying with the beat. The girls behind me were even laughing to each other and reminiscing on horror stories with their exes in between songs. In the middle of her set, GAYLE took a break from her own music and performed one of the greatest covers of Alanis Morisette’s “You Oughta Know” I had ever heard, and sealed the song with a powerful speech about women who paved rock music and female empowerment. On the note of empowerment, GAYLE dove back into her own discography with “dear men” that had every girl in the room falling in love with the lyrics and every man doing some internal reflection. GAYLE finished out her set with the fiery breakup hit “abcdefu” before making another brilliant joke comparing herself to her dad and just leaving the stage as the final moments of the song rang out. The way GAYLE is able to captivate an entire crowd with nothing but herself and a guitar on stage was something truly amazing to witness. Not only can you count on hauntingly good vocals and unmatched stage presence, but also a comedy set in between each song that is so naturally funny and charismatic you can’t help but want more. After the performance she put on, this certainly won’t be my last GAYLE show.
Winnetka Bowling League took the stage after 9:00pm, and from the second the first song “Pulp” began to play the crowd was dancing and moving with the band. The band came out strong and followed along with their fans, dancing and jumping on stage to the upbeat song. They then went right into their second song, “Kombucha”, which had everyone in the crowd yelling the lyrics back and recording the band to be able to relive this night over and over. Frontman, Matthew Koma, then took the time to thank everyone for coming out and joked how he didn’t expect anyone to show up to these shows, and how it had been two years since they had played a show in Los Angeles. He then told the crowd how he had noticed such a divide in the world ever since watching Twilight and how their stage was absent of a bassist due to the bass player in rehearsal confessing they were “Team Jacob”. This led into a bit where he said he had to call his Uncle Vinny to come play bass in which keys player, Sam Beresford, grabbed a cardboard cutout of Vin Diesel and Robert Pattison from side stage with fake basses strapped to them. The entire crowd was raving over this moment and the second they jumped back into performing their songs the energy was on another level. The band kept everyone jumping and singing before debuting a slower, unreleased song “FIIMY” which broke the set up beautifully and even had a few fans in tears. That didn’t last long though as the rest of the show was filled with more dancing and chanting lyrics, while the band thrashed around on stage in true Winnetka Bowling League fashion.
Winnetka Bowling League’s ability to keep the crowd’s tempo raging while simultaneously incorporating bits and banter and giving their all on stage showed off their unmatched showmanship. Everyone in the building found themselves wishing their set would go on all night when they finally thanked the crowd for coming again, signaling to everyone the next one was going to be the last of the night. Between GAYLE’s impeccable set, raging energy throughout the entire night, and a killer performance from Winnetka Bowling League, when the show finally came to a conclusion everyone left the venue on a high.This show was easily one of my favorite post-pandemic concert experiences and I would highly recommend catching a show from either of these artists to experience it for yourself.
WINNETKA BOWLING LEAGUE
GAYLE
Review + Photos by Aubree Estrella | Exclusively for @Music,Why Not!