Waterparks have announced their A Night Out On Earth tour. The North American run will launch in October, bringing the group to over a dozen U.S. cities.
Alternative Press and Live Nation have partnered to offer a special presale for the tour. Launching Wednesday, June 16 at 10 a.m. local time, the sale will run until Thursday, June 17 at 10 p.m. local time. To participate, visit here and use the password ALTPRESS.
Read more: Awsten Knight and Joel Madden have a low tolerance for boredom—watch
While the COVID-19 shutdown brought live music to a grinding halt, AltPress cover artist Waterparks found ways to continue engaging fans. The group have used social media to drop hints about their plans and provide fresh musical content. They also launched the Waterparks Wednesdays series, releasing new songs and videos each week in the leadup to their new album, Greatest Hits.
Recently, Awsten Knight caught up with Good Charlotte’s Joel Madden as part of the latest installment of our Artist Friendly series. During the interview, Knight suggested the album would cover new musical ground and challenge assumptions about genre.
“You’ll see a very, very, very pop-punk dude be like, ‘This is the shittiest pop-punk band,’” Knight says. “Listening to “Snow Globe,” I’m like, ‘Obviously, this isn’t a pop-punk thing.’ I think if people go into something with an expectation, that’s where there’s room to disappoint. But if you go out and you’re like, ‘Hey, do not expect this. You are not going to be getting this. But I promise you, what you do get is going to be top of the fucking line.’”
Read more: KennyHoopla and Travis Barker shine on ‘SURVIVORS GUILT: THE MIXTAPE//’
With Greatest Hits, the band certainly deliver on their promise to go beyond listener expectations. Released May 21 via 300 Entertainment, the album fluidly moves between genres and pushes toward new emotional depths.
In their AltPress cover interview, Knight spoke about the process that led to their distinctive sound as well as the way the song “Just Kidding” pushed in a darker direction than the other material on the release.
“This album was obviously made when I was very stuck at home, but the three songs that were made before that were done right before we left for the FANDOM tour,” Knight says. “It was ‘Just Kidding,’ ‘Secret Life’ and ‘Crying Over It All.’ But the thing is, it works really fucking well, and I made sure because I’m not going to throw songs in just for the fuck of it, but it plays so well into the dream thing because ‘Just Kidding’ is probably the most blatantly dark part of the album.”
Read more: AltPress Weekly: chloe moriondo cover, Architects, Turnstile and more
With the announcement of their tour, Waterparks will finally have an opportunity to perform their newest material for fans in person.
AltPress and Live Nation have partnered to bring fans an exclusive presale for the tour. The sale launches on June 16 at 10 a.m. local time and runs until June 17 at 10 p.m. local time. Tickets will go on sale for the general public on Friday, June 18 at 10 a.m. local time.
In order to participate in the presale, visit here and use the password ALTPRESS.
You can read our exclusive Q&A with Waterparks’ Knight below.
You’re announcing your tour just as live music is slowly making a comeback. How does it feel to be going out on the road?
I didn’t realize how much I missed it until we started getting these small tastes of performing again. We did the Wiltern album release show where we got to perform, but for 0 people. Then, we did a couple in-stores on the East Coast where we played a few stripped-back versions of “[You’d Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out To Get You)],” “Violet!” and “Numb.” It’s teasing me for the real thing, big time.
The tour also follows the release of Greatest Hits. Can you talk about what it was like to work on an album during the COVID era?
It posed a lot of challenges, honestly. It just made people as creatives be more creative and it really worked for some. I produced on this album since I couldn’t leave my house, which was new. I also involved more friends and got them to send me vocals or record their instruments to the songs. So, there are a lot more people on this than any other Waterparks album. I think being isolated made me want to be with friends, and I think this was the closest thing I could get to that. I’m lucky my friends are talented hahaha.
What is the group doing to get ready for the tour?
I started taking vocal lessons recently, so theoretically I’m about to be ddddddooooopppppppeeeeeeee, bbbbaaaabbbbbbbyyyyyyyyy.
What fans should expect from the run?
I’m really competitive with myself and never want to do anything unless I know it’s better than our previous version—whether that’s albums, production, videos, any of it. For the tour, you can absolutely expect the best stage design to date, the best merch (which I actually took a break from making to do this) and some cool opener ideas, too.
What songs are you most looking forward to playing live?
All of them. I truly don’t know how to cut out more songs from the set. I know “Magnetic,” “See You In The Future,” “Numb” and “LIKE IT” are all about to go dumb. I really want to hear a crowd do the outro of “Crying Over It All” so bad[ly].
Waterparks A Night Out On Earth tour
10/25 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
10/27 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
10/28 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune
10/31 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
11/01 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore Minneapolis
11/03 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall
11/05 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
11/08 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
11/09 – Boston, MA @ Big Night Live
11/11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
11/12 – Silver Spring, MD @The Fillmore Silver Spring
11/13 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Elevation 27
11/14 – Richmond, VA @ Canal Club
11/16 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
11/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
11/19 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
11/20 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
11/22 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
11/23 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
11/27 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
11/29 – Kansas City, MO @ The Truman
11/30 – Denver, CO @ Summit
12/03 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
12/04 – San Diego, CA @ SOMA
12/06 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern