The third act of the day at HOSTESS CLUB WEEKENDER is California’s surf pop kings WAVVES, who open their set with the lively summer track “Idiot.” Despite having quite a solid following, the crowd is at its smallest for their performance, only sparsely populating the expansive Yebisu Garden Hall. There are a few diehard fans at the front of the crowd going all in for each song, but other than that it is a light head-nodding affair for most. Wavves play a total of five new tracks from their latest album “Afraid of Heights,” which was released in March this year, as well as classics “King of the Beach,” “Green Eyes” and “Post Acid.” They even treat the crowd to a cover of Sonic Youth’s “100%,” much to the delight of fans.
After forming out of a solo project by leading man Nathan Williams, Wavves made a big name for themselves, achieving notoriety after a disastrous performance at 2009’s Primavera Festival in Barcelona, Williams earning himself the label of “petulant brat” and “slacker.” In the years since then, they’ve changed their lineup and released two more albums and have to an extent redeemed themselves from what for many would have been a career-destroying incident. Wavves have instead come out stronger and more determined than ever to produce largely fun and playful tunes about the highs and lows of life.
On Sunday, Williams’ vocal performance is spot on, powering confidently through each track with a passion and strength in his voice that actually exceeds the recorded material. Performance-wise, at the beginning of their set, the band seem almost restrained, perhaps not wanting to set a foot wrong after such a haphazard and notorious reputation. However, by the end of the set each band member is completely into it, bassist Stephen Pope thrashing about on stage, his long blonde mane flailing around as much as his body.
Perhaps the most interesting part of their performance is Williams himself, not afraid of showing off his playful, somewhat bratty personality. At one point, between tracks, he mutters, “It’s so quiet, it’s like a fucking library,” seemingly not impressed by the painfully polite Japanese audience, then later randomly announcing, “We love Tokyo. We love Japan. It’s my birthday in three days.” In the middle of their set, Williams asks the audience, “If I jump into the crowd, will you catch me? Do you think I could make it all the way to the back?” He attempts this feat three times during the last song of the show, “No Hope Kids,” but fails to get more than two metres deep the first two tries, with the last attempt resulting in him dropping straight to the floor, the sparse crowd not enough to keep him up.
Nothing particularly amazing could be said about their performance as a whole; the sound was great, the performances solid, however it was rather lacking in some inexplicable way and people who were not already fans of their music wouldn’t be particularly sold by this show. Wavves are currently embarking on a huge world tour on their latest album “Afraid of Heights.”