Wavves of Confusion
*MP3: Wavves - “So Bored”
I’ve been hearing quite a few rumors regarding Wavves’ performance on the Pitchfork Stage at the Primavera Festival this weekend in Spain and I didn’t want to report anything until it seemed that most of the gossipy smoke had settled. AW Music has a great layout of what happened, but Pitchfork Editor and Captain Ryan Schreiber has the best first-hand account of the happenings:
“From the moment they took the stage, the duo was clearly not in any kind of mood to be playing to a potentially adoring crowd […]. While the audience– riding high on colossal sets from Phoenix, My Bloody Valentine, and Aphex Twin on alternate stages– grew increasingly impatient, singer/guitarist Nathan Williams fumbled through a disastrous soundcheck, alternately bickering with drummer Ryan Ulsh, complaining at the sound guy, and confusing the three components of their setup (drums, guitar, and vocals) on the monitors.
Still unsatisfied more than 15 minutes into their scheduled 2:20 a.m. set time, Nathan finally succumbed to shouts from the restless crowd and began lifelessly strumming his guitar in what appeared to be totally random chord progressions. As drummer Ryan struggled in vain to find a tempo for Nathan’s seasick improvisation, the music slowly turned into a half-speed […]
After five minutes of directionless strumming and arbitrary snare hits, Nathan dodged the evening’s first bottle and decided to wind the aimless tune to an abrupt close. Then, rubbing his hands against his face, he declared in annoyed resignation, “All right, hi everybody, we’re Wavves,” […]
Nathan began ineptly mocking the crowd (”Ooooooh, I’m on ecstasy!”), going off at length about his preference for California over Spain, and eventually telling them the festival was “one of the coolest things we’ve been part of in a while,” dripping with sarcasm. Finally, fed up with Nathan’s petulant behavior, Ryan ran out from behind his drumkit and poured a full cup of beer over Nathan’s head. The act would be met with their most enthusiastic applause of the evening.
At 3:00 a.m. sharp, having dodged their share of bottles and even a shoe, the show mercifully came to a screeching halt: Ryan ran offstage, throwing his drumsticks at Nathan. Infuriated, Nathan screamed into the mic, “Come back here, motherfucker, we’re not done yet!” Immediately, stage crew appeared, breaking down Ryan’s kit. “Fuck!” Nathan shouted, “Stop doing that!” They didn’t, so Nathan decided the show must go on. Helplessly, he strummed his guitar again, clearly intent on playing another song. But as he stepped back to the mic, he realized it had been cut. As the crowd booed, the house lights came up, and a defeated Nathan Williams threw his hands up and left, along with the few remaining attendees.”
Wavves drummer, Nathan, then made this blog post:
“I think in the back of my head I knew I wasn’t exactly mentally healthy enough to continue to tour the way I have been since February. Honest truth is this has all happened so fast and I feel like the weight of it has been building for months now with what seems like a never ending touring and press schedule which includes absolutely zero time to myself. I’m sorry to everyone who has put effort into this and to everyone who supported me. Mixing ecstasy valium and xanax before having to play in front of thousands of people was one of the more poor decisions I’ve made(duh) and I realize my drinking has been a problem now for a good period of time. Nothing else I can do but apologize to everyone that has been affected by my poor decision making. I made a mistake. Not the first mistake I’ve made and it for sure wont be the last. I’m human. Don’t know why I chose the biggest platform I could imagine to loose (sic) my shit, but that’s life.”
All in all, it seems like the dudes had a rough night and I hope they figure out their issues.
(Ian Anderson)
