THE Waterparks In Store Experience
BY SYDNEY CARPER
To celebrate the release of their sixth album JINX, Waterparks spent a week visiting record stores across the U.S. meeting fans until the early hours of the morning, signing albums, and even giving a few intimate performances.
The band hit 7 cities, beginning July 23rd in Long Beach, California, the day before their album dropped. Eager fans queued outside Fingerprints Music from the early morning hours, trading bracelets, trinkets, and blasting their favorite Waterparks songs on speaker, killing time as they awaited the moment doors would open and they could meet the band.
The evening began with Waterparks performing an acoustic set, with fan favorites such as FUNERAL GREY and TELEPHONE, while also performing two songs from their (at the time) unreleased album. Latest single BETTER THAN THERAPY was played acoustic for the first time after making its debut at Washington, DC’s Van’s Warped Tour a month prior, and PLAYING MUSIC was played in full for the first time ever. During the set, the band expressed their thanks to those in attendance while engaging in the usual crowd banter and stage antics, with drummer Otto Wood hand feeding guitarist Geoff Wigington grapes in between songs to roaring laughter from all sides of the room.
After the set, fans collected the vinyls and CDs they purchased from the record store and awaited their turn to meet the band, snap a photo, and have their copies of JINX signed, many asking for personalized doodles and lyrics written out to later get tattooed, to which the band happily obliged. After meet and greet, fans hurried off to give the album a first listen, with many also attending the in store signing at Licorice Pizza in Los Angeles the following day.
The next week was filled with heartfelt moments in Portland, Orlando, Houston, Chicago, and New York as fans shared with the band (and one another) their initial reactions to JINX. Fans who stuck around after the in store signing at Looney Tunes record store on Long Island were treated to a secret pop up performance at the Columbus Circle subway station the next day, a first of its kind for Waterparks and many of their fans who revere these kinds of one of a kind moments with the band. In store signings like these are an essential part of the Waterparks album roll out experience. The community they’ve curated has a special appreciation for physical media, so getting to support local record stores with their purchases of JINX while meeting the band at the same time is invaluable in the current era where the music industry is so heavily digitized.
PHOTO BY @REICPHOTOS
The band ended the JINX in stores with gratitude and promises of more signings in the near future. If you can’t wait until then to see Waterparks, you can catch them this fall on their freshly announced THE (ALMOST) NO BARRICADE TOUR, a full headliner in the most intimate venues they’ve toured in since 2018. With a rotating setlist and an elevated VIP experience, this is a tour you don’t want to miss. Full dates below:
THE (ALMOST) NO BARRICADE TOUR DATES
Salt Lake City, UT - Oct 27
Denver, CO - Oct 29
Lawrence, KS - Oct 31
Minneapolis, MN - Nov 2
Milwaukee, WI - Nov 4
Milwaukee, WI - Nov 5
Milwaukee, WI - Nov 6
Lakewood, OH - Nov 8
New Haven, CT - Nov 10
Asbury Park, NJ - Nov 12
Asbury Park, NJ - Nov 13
Asbury Park, NJ - Nov 14
Towson, MD - Nov 16
Towson, MD - Nov 17
Atlanta, GA - Nov 20
Atlanta, GA - Nov 21
Atlanta, GA - Nov 22
Orlando, FL - Nov 24
Houston, TX - Nov 28
Houston, TX - Nov 29
Tucson, AZ - Dec 2
Santa Ana, CA - Dec 4
Sacramento, CA - Dec 6
Sacramento, CA - Dec 7
