Words and Photos: Emily Sisson/ESOfficial Studios
Texans and local denizens arrived at the House of Blues early Saturday afternoon, July 19th, and the line that formed was long and winding. Fans of Will Wood—outcasts, punks, and theatrical thinkers dressed in uniquely tributing clothing—flooded the streets by the hundreds. Waiting in line, drenched in sweat, many resembling gothic cabaret cast members or Jackson Pollock caricatures. These humble weirdos traveled far and wide, arriving in packed vans to support what was set to be a very memorable, very precocious, and very hyped show with music from an ample and iconic discovery.
The band “Will Wood and the Tapeworms” hadn’t performed together in years, and Dallas was set to wrap up the first half of the tour where the Tapeworms band would accompany every show. The “Mr. Wood is Dead Ten-Year Anniversary Tour” marked 10 years since the debut of the first WWATT album “Everything Is A Lot.” It’s been years since the band had played together—back in December 2019, to be exact. But this wasn’t for lack of demand. Funny enough, years later, logistically this tour was so much larger than any the band or even Will Wood had performed before. Which was why it was so spectacular for the Tapeworms to be back together and commemorating the end of an era. Hence “Mr. Wood is Dead.”
Last year Wood took a new leap in his performative ventures, showcasing his solo work in an anecdotal retelling of a heartfelt moment he experienced in Branson, MO. Coming to a greater realization while stuck in a timeshare meeting with his partner. This, however, is merely an understated and small sum of Will’s hilarious set that is soon to be brought to film, Slouching Towards Branson. Patreon members are set to be the first to experience the movie with its release date August 15! After the “Slouching Toward Bethlehem” sold-out tour, demand for full band shows continued to rise as well. We now know that those smaller club shows held precedent for larger sold-out shows, and fans in Dallas were eager to show their support and jam out to classics. Listeners wanted a show encapsulating the sheer wildness, energy, and pizzazz that they knew only a WILL WOOD AND THE TAPEWORMS show could possess! Mike Bottiglieri on guitar, Matthew Berger on saxophone, DJ Scully on bass, and Mario Conte on drums, bringing it together and rocking this show into oblivion.
Will emerged onto the stage, taking a seat behind his multi-colored custom designed Yamaha keyboard and started the show with the song “-ish,” the ending song from the band’s second studio album “Self-ish.” It was a toss-up throughout the tour as the song “Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll” was often played as the opening number as well, both setting a slow and intense draw of attention. That pacing didn’t last long, however, as Will swiftly moved to the second song “6up 5oh Cop-Out (Pro/Con)” as the band silently joined on stage beside him. Soon after the first few verses, the beat exploded with full musical backing and full undomesticated chaos ensued. The crowd immediately livened up, taking no shame in screaming out the lyrics and dancing like no one was watching. It was already set to be a wild show, but I’d be lying if I said the cowboy hats added nothing to the experience.
To many fans of Will Wood, the senses and euphoria that can be found in his music are both simultaneously uplifting as well as numbing. This red-pill wake-up call message resembles that of a pseudo dose of ayahuasca, making you think you understand life while bouncing around the room. That, along with clever and humorous writing, “Will Wood” has well made himself an extremely infectious and all-encompassing experience to fans who first stumble onto his music. His message, ideologies, and ability to skillfully mash genres has made for an extremely magnetic spectacle and one that is more often than not, novelty.
Throughout the show there was mention of a “one guy.” A person who “woke up nervous” and “felt like the weirdest person in the room.” “Maybe you’re in the front, maybe you’re in the pit…” Will says. He referenced this specific person multiple times in the Dallas show which, as far as I’m aware, hasn’t been part of the act throughout the tour. Who was this guy, is he real? Was he all of us? I had to speculate. I reckon, like most things Will Wood, it was probably some thin line between metaphor and truth. Either way, it was an interesting connection that I’m sure many related to. “So to one guy, wherever you are, whoever you are… A very happy ‘Skeleton Appreciation Day.'”
“Do ideas spread because they are good?” Will yells. “NO!” the audience replies in unison. He trudges to the other side of the stage and again asks, “Do ideas spread because they are good?” Again, a loud “NO!” from the crowd. “So why do ideas spread?” he asks. “Because people like them!” The crowd replies. This snippet from the performance of “Black Box Warrior – OKULTRA” was one of the most theatrical parts of the performance in which Will continued the spoken interlude via rotary telephone. He introduced the song with a short monologue about years of trying to find some way to stop being “too weird for the weird,” referencing his time studying psychology. “I wrote this song about some of the feelings I had about that attempt to wrangle that too weird for the weird guy deep down inside me, maybe one guy you can relate to some of that. But you and me one guy, it’s us versus this whole construct…”
The stage was set under a row of many religious symbols and directly in the center rested a Hamsa hand, which seemed fitting for an artist like Will. One of the last songs to be performed that night was “Self,” a song that had not been performed at a Tapeworms show since 2017! This was an absolute treasure to witness in person. It was very exciting to see the band reunited again and playing just as magnificently and energetically as when they left off. The final song before the encore, “Cicada Days,” featured Will solo—just a man and his ukulele—bringing the crowd back down to earth and reminding us all just how fast time flies. He then thanked the crowd and exited the stage. When the band returned to play out the final two songs, many of the crowd had already started to disperse! This, along with the complaints throughout the tour of crowds “moshing” or “crowdsurfing,” goes to prove to me the rumors I had heard beforehand were true: there was a large influx of inexperienced concertgoers attending this tour. There were a few hecklers at this show, in particular, something that didn’t seem to distract the performance too much from the band. However, this seems to be a common occurrence during Will’s performances even with the minimum age requirements that have been implemented. Maybe it’s not about age, but something more obvious. Regardless, I don’t think it took anything away from the talent or showmanship clearly demonstrated. It wouldn’t deter me at all from attending in the future.
The songs chosen to close out the show, in my opinion, couldn’t have made a better combination. “Dr. Sunshine is Dead” is one of my all-time favorite songs, and the crowd surely agreed. I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear “Cotard’s Solution (Anatta/Dukkha/Anicca)” live. It’s not too often this song gets played; though technically challenging, it seemed like the perfect way to wrap up such a legendary and memorable tour for Will Wood and the Tapeworms. I hope to see more shows like this in the future, and that the band receives the recognition and fulfillment they deserve—they were all greatly missed! More shows from Will Wood to come: the second half of the “Mr. Wood is Dead” tour features solo theater shows starting August 20th. Tickets are almost all gone, so don’t miss it!
Setlist
-ish
6up 5oh Cop-Out (Pro/Con)
Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Mary Bell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally
The Main Character
White Knuckle Jerk (Where Do You Get Off?)
Mr. Capgras Encounters a Secondhand Vanity: Tulpamancer’s Prosopagnosia/Pareidolia (As Direct Result of Trauma to the Fusiform Gyrus)
Yes, to Err is Human, So Don’t Be One.
Against the Kitchen Floor
Laplace’s Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!)
Skeleton Appreciation Day in Vestal, NY (Bones)
Black Box Warrior – OKULTRA
Memento Mori: the most important thing in the world
Front Street
Self-
Cicada Days
-ENCORE-
Dr. Sunshine is Dead
Cotard’s Solution (Anatta/Dukkha/Anicca)
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