Will Wood @ The Archer
The Archer Music Hall was able to welcome Will Wood and The Tapeworms to their stage to provide an extremely memorable show.
Will Wood’s genre of music is truly one of a kind. He brings experimental elements of Rock, Folk, and Psychedelic together —with a mix of solo piano keys— to define his style. With an intense amount of detail thrown into the lyricism, every one of his songs takes multiple listens before they can be fully understood. Through this, Will Wood has gathered an incredibly committed fanbase who show their love through art, animations, and the uniquely designed outfits they wear to every one of his live performances.
These dedicated fans managed to wrap around the block over an hour before the hall allowed entry, and even when guests were allowed in, the line hardly shrank. As the crowd formed around the opening band “The Ruen Brothers”, their involvement with the artists already proved their enthusiasm for what was to come. And while the opening setlist was short, the crowd never lost any energy between acts. Interacting and building the hype while anticipating the main act that they came for. The exact moment the lights dimmed the entire room focused it’s energy on the main stage and cheers filled the room as the band made their way to their marks.
The show began with a slightly different level of energy than the crowd was expecting. Once the first song, “Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll”, started in an overture style, the crowd’s energy turned into anticipation as the setlist appeared to be taking an unexpected turn. The show starting with a song from the 2022 album, “In case I make it”, was still an absolutely smart decision, since this show was part of the “Mr. Wood is Dead Ten-Year Anniversary Tour”, it’s equally important for the band to acknowledge their entire discography for a performance like this.
However, immediately following the first song, and a decent length monologue to interact with the audience and bring their energy back up, the expected tone was instantly revived as the band erupted into their usual style with a song from their 2015 album, “Everything is a Lot”. That album specifically marked the beginning of “Will Wood and the Tapeworms” as their first studio album, so to truly get the set going with the opening track from their first release completely set the tone for the rest of the night. Once the first song ended to a set of thunderous applause, something completely unexpected happened. The set list took a turn from the first release to the most recent one as the solo piano intro for “Suburbia Overture” got every fan on the rail to cheer. The opening track for the 2020 album “The Normal Album” then directly transitioned into the final part of the triad of albums the set overall focused on, “Dr. Sunshine is Dead” from their 2026 album, “Self-ish”.
The energy in the room at this point only further backed the idea that every member of the crowd was a truly dedicated fan. Singing every word, feeling every note and reacting to every moment of The Tapeworm’s intense stage presence. Throughout the rest of the night it was obvious that the crowd wouldn’t die down and was truly loving every moment of the first Will Wood performance on the Archer stage. While only at the beginning segment of the Anniversary tour it was clear that every show after this would contain just as much passion as what was displayed in Allentown.
Photos by Tristan Reiser
