I'm going to keep this review brief because that's all it really can be. My experience last night at the AWK show was, to put it mildly, a bit odd. I came to party and for a whole 30 minutes that's what I did. That's what the audience did. And just when the crowd was REALLY beginning to exercise their groove, the show was over. No explanation or warning; an audience left to mill around, confused and slightly pissed.
I should preface by stating that I missed the opening bands. Apologies to them. Arriving at the tail end of the second groups set (Natural Ingredients), I staked my position up front amongst the hordes of AWK followers, anxiously awaiting his arrival. Waiting Room was busy, but by no means packed. Whether that's a testament to the venue's spacious environment or AWK's diminished fan base, I do not know. After what seemed like an eternity, AWK hit stage at approximately 10pm.
This tour has been touted as the solo tour and it is essentially just that. Andrew WK came out sans band (although he did have his band's backup vocalist), the stage virtually empty save for his keyboard and microphones. For the next thirty minutes, we were treated to a high energy set of popular AWK tunes including "It's Time to Party," "Party Hard," "I Get Wet," and "Ready to Die." Andrew WK, frenetic and wired in his approach, inspired us to match his intensity by continually feeding the audience the mic, and bounding around the stage with reckless abandon. Even between songs, he was a bundle of energy dancing wildly and starting chants left and right. At one point in time, the sound system that backed AWK (essentially electronic renditions of his recorded output), cut off, and instead of stopping the show, he got the audience to chant "party" until the sound came back on. The high point of the evening was when AWK addressed the Boston marathon massacre with a resounding "Fuck terrorism. It will not control our lives!", gathering huge cheers from the audience. It wasn't so much what he said, but the way he said it. For a man who has let positivity and hope direct the course of his life, it was a contagious and inspiring moment. We were left truly believing in ourselves and the hope of man.
For thirty-five whole minutes (by my approximation anyway), AWK rocked us and had us eating out of the palm of his hand. It was cathartic, it was beautiful. It WAS a party. And then it stopped. Andrew WK said a few farewell words and left the stage and it was over. The crowd waited around for an encore, half expecting two or three more encores, but they never came. The lights came on, the music started playing and people were left to look at one another and ask "is that it?" I don't think anyone truly believed it was over. Half hour sets are reserved for opening bands, not famous headliners with rabid fan bases. After 15 minutes, chants of "We're not leaving" and "Fuck the Waiting Room" began. The crowd was beginning to get restless, as they began to realize it was (actually) over. In all fairness, I don't think the Waiting Room had anything to do with it. I've been looking at AWK's recent set lists all morning and they are all extremely short.
I'm not going to pass blame on anyone here, although I do understand why the crowd was pissed off. I was. People paid between $15 and $18 for tickets and we were treated to no more than 8 songs. Granted, it was an absolute blast to hear those eight songs, but I think we expected something more, especially from an artist known for his never-ending approach to partying. What was a good show could have been a great show given a bit more time. The crowd was just starting to warm up and then it ended. These things happen. I only hope that AWK gives us a bit more the next time he comes to Buffalo.
has nothing to do with the venue. blame his ipod. he had 37 min programmed and thats what he did.
Andrew's ex-wife called his tour manager and threatened to have child services have him arrested / cancelling the tour.
Had fun but a headliner can't play a 37 minute set ever.
I think the crowd would have been pretty forgiving about the short set if he had a meet and greet after the show like he did the previous night in Hamilton and other dates on the show because that is what I was looking forward to. Also that's another thing because he didn't even have a merch table which I thought was weird too. When he was on he was amazing and I will see him next time he comes to Buffalo but the length of the show was incredibly disappointing.