Andrew W.K.’s 10 Year “I Get Wet” Anniversary Tour – REVIEW

On Andrew W.k.’s 10 Year “I Get Wet” Anniversary tour with Math the Band, he came to the Riviera Theater in Chicago. You can check out our review after the break!

A decade is a considerable amount of time for something to still be considered relevant. Unlike wine, not everything grows better with age. Fighting the natural laws of degenerative interest something rarely comes along, an album, that is not only the most pivotal instruction manual for partying that has ever been created, but should be handed out at freshmen orientation in every college in the country. Every song is the soundtrack to a beer comercial and should all be considered amendments to the Commandments. I Get Wet is in its tenth year of existence, not even old enough to party itself, but it has certainly paved the way for just that. The Riviera Theater which once stood tall at the three-way intersection of Racine, Broadway and Lawrence now lay in piles of dust post-Andrew W.K.

The first band of the night Math the Band has been the direct support for this entire tour and after hearing the first thirty seconds of their music I could tell exactly why they were picked to be on. “Hey, we’re Math the Band and we base our music on thirty year old video game systems and bullshit!” MtB is a spazzy, energetic cacophony of electronic buzzes and beeps mixed with the middle-finger-to-your-parents angst of a pop punk band. Think of a three-way bus crash involving Mindless Self Indulgence, Sum 41, and whoever wrote the Hamster Dance song and the surviving member played on. The Rhode Island duo made up of Kevin Steinhauser on guitar and vocals and Justine Mainville on synth, floor tom and vocals quickly won over the crowd by their second song in the set Why Didn’t You Get a Haircut. Heads bopped, and feet rarely remained on the ground. Kevin and Justine’s stage presence was a birthday party for twins at Chuck-E-Cheese and the whole school was invited. Non-stop movin’ and shakin’, toe touches, and jumping around made for an entertaining set to witness. An announcement for one last song was met with a lot of ‘No!’s because the crowd wanted more! Check out Math the Band’s latest effort Don’t Worry for some super energetic pre-gaming tunes.

The multifaceted Andrew W.K. not only acts as a musician, but also a producer, self-help and motivational speaker, TV host, nightclub owner, and party-guru; he has created an entire empire of party. He is in no way reinventing the wheel but he sure is spinning it way faster than everyone else. Some two-thousand were all gather to pay homage to the flagship AWK album that is I Get Wet.
A nearly sold out Riv Theater was clamoring for more and the anticipation level grew to the absolute limit. The crowd was at a boiling point and the only cure to what ailed them was a dose of straightforward American party rock. The lights dim and a backdrop of Andrew W.K.’s bloodied face from the I Get Wet album cover is lowered from the scaffolding. Andrew takes stage with his group of guitarists totalling four, bassist and drummer as well as his wife Cherie Lily and the sea of people erupts into freakishly loud chant of “Party!” The album got played in its entirety and that’s just what every pew in the church of Andrew W.K. came for. The album is stuffed to the brim with party anthems that can turn a funeral into a full on rager in mear seconds. If there were ever a concert I’d expect to see a condom balloon being passed through the crowd like a beach ball, this’d be it. In between each song Andrew would perform a small ditty on this piano. Stuffing the microphone into his pants while playing little folk tunes and the American Airlines theme, each one got the crowd riled up more and more for each next track. The crowd was beyond words energetic. Singing every single lyric with every ounce of breath in their body, dancing non stop throughout the entire set. I’ve never seen a crowd move so much for a show regardless of how many different genres I’ve seen live; this one took the cake. “You put the noise in Illinois! You put the party…in Illinois!” “You’re making the entire room spin!” were some of the praise that Andrew gave up for his appreciating fans. “Never forget the power of music. Never forget the power of physical joy!” Crowd surfers poured over the barricade like the chocolate candies in the famed I Love Lucy episode and joined Andrew on stage donning his famous garb of a plain white shirt and white carpenters pants. There was a real sense of comradery amongst fans as we were all there for the same reason. Andrew W.K. performed two encores of older songs and some newer ones also making sure the crowd wouldn’t leave with any sense of disappointment or wanting more.

After a show like that, I can only hope that Andrew and the rest of the band are happy with the way Chicago has taken I Get Wet and made it a staple of our parties. The most a crowd could ever give back to an artist is a reaction like that. Make sure to try and catch the I Get Wet 10 Year Anniversary Tour in your city if it hasn’t sold out already! And always remember to PARTY HARD.

Information about the review…
Tour: Andrew W.K.’s 10 Year “I Get Wet” Anniversary Tour
Bands: Andrew W.K. and Math the Band
Reviewer: Shaun Andruchuk
Date: March 25, 2012
Venue: Riviera Theater in Chicago, IL