Concert Review: The Walters, Summer Salt and Le Grotto captivate Olympia crowd
Usually when one thinks of a historic movie theater, a loud and rowdy rock show is the last thing that comes to mind. That didn’t stop indie rock bands The Walters and Summer Salt from making a stop at Olympia’s Capitol Theater on their “Let’s Be Friends” tour on April 21st. In the small backstage area that served as their venue, the two bands created an unforgettable night of good music, good showmanship, and an overall good night.
Opening for Summer Salt and The Walters was a local Olympia band called Le Grotto. This three-piece rock band is pretty new to the music scene, with their self-titled debut album released in 2016, but their infectious surf-rock sounds are bound to become big one day soon. The unique and intense vocals of Laith Scherer combined with witty lyrics and catchy melodies were the perfect introduction for the next two bands to come.
Austin natives Summer Salt were the next band to take the stage. Although there is no coastline in the Texas’ capital city, Summer Salt’s relaxing and grooving tunes made it seem like the trio had grown up on the coast. Despite facing a few technical difficulties with their sound equipment at the beginning of their set, Summer Salt successfully captivated their audience from the start. No matter what your music taste, it would be impossible to not enjoy Summer Salt’s music, which was translated beautifully from recording to their live performance. Matthew Terry’s angelic high-register vocals mixed beautifully with some quirky guitar riffs and bouncy basslines, and by their roughly six minute ending song, “Going Native,” the entire audience was happily swaying along with the music.
Despite the powerful performances given by Le Grotto and Summer Salt, nothing could have prepared anyone for the set that was to come. The performance that The Walters gave was an out of body experience, and it was difficult not to get completely immersed in the music they played. Their set started with a track from their debut release, Songs for Dads, called “Old Friend.” From then on, the night just escalated in excitement. Frontman Luke Olson completely put himself out there for the entire set, winning over the audience’s hearts with his ridiculous, yet charming dance moves. MJ Tribssasi’s smooth vocals were also a key element to slightly nostalgic albeit fresh sound that is resident throughout The Walters’ music.
A number of spontaneous acts happened onstage, from a brief intermission to move the band’s van so that they weren’t ticketed to a shout out to Zac Efron’s performance in the movie High School Musical, complete with a brief singalong with the crowd. The night finished with a riveting performance of their single “Hunk Beach,” where Olson fell off the stage and immediately turned the floor into one giant dance party.
The fresh excitement that Le Grotto brought to the Capitol Theater mixed with the beachy, pristine performance of Summer Salt and the riveting, heart-stirring set that The Walters finished off with made for an extremely satisfying overall show. Based off of the performances given in Olympia, it’s easy to see that all three of these bands have a bright future, so be sure to give them a listen and come out to see them on their next PNW tour!
