The 2025 ‘Mr. Wood is Dead’ tour includes both solo and full-band performances
Click here to view the calendar of solo and band performances
Acclaimed solo artist Will Wood is treating fans to a few full-band shows with a new lineup of The Tapeworms to commemorate ten years since the release of their first album, Everything Is A Lot, for the Mr. Wood Is Dead tour. My partner/photographer Britt Bender and I got the chance to catch them as they toured through Rochester, NY with the opening act Ruen Brothers, a band originally from Scunthorpe, England. A big thanks to Will, LiveNation, and Anthology for facilitating this review!
Live Pre-Show At House of Guitars
A few hours before the show at Anthology in the city proper, Will put on a solo pre-show at House of Guitars in Irondequoit, NY. Funnily enough, Britt and I are scarcely blocks away from there, so we made a point to attend this pop-up event, posted on Will’s Instagram the night before. We don’t have photos from this event, unfortunately, but this was a fantastic chance to praise Will’s solo chops once again.
Will started the solo mini-show with “…And If I Did, You Deserved It”, a song only released at all in his In Case I Die live album. This song is a treat to hear live in that album, but it was a treat among treats to hear live live. If you have heard Will play any song live, you’ll know exactly what I mean by that.
Following that, Will performed “Vampire Reference In A Minor”, a song originally from In case I make it,. This song is admittedly not my favorite song of his (it’s still great), but again, hearing it live was a very different experience for me. I greatly enjoyed hearing this performed.
After “Vampire Reference”, Will played “Skeleton Appreciation Day In Vestal, NY (Bones)”, a classic from Everything Is A Lot. Will began the song in a slightly lower register but graduated to a higher one after the first chorus. This actually enhanced the song in a way I didn’t think of. It was very pleasant to that end.
Finally, Will performed “White Noise”. This song is one of my favorite tracks from In Case I Make It for a variety of personal reasons, so hearing it that day felt like a near-religious experience. Hearing the audience recite the response “Yes, it cures cancer!” felt extremely cathartic. I’m sure many others in the audience would agree with me there.
After the concert concluded, Britt and I traveled to Rochester proper to Anthology, the venue for the main concert. Here’s what we thought about it!
Opening Act: Ruen Brothers
I’ll admit, I wanted a fresh set of ears for Ruen Brothers. The trio at work here, Henry and Rupert Stansall and Wesley Greer, were an absolute delight to listen to as the opener to Will Wood and the Tapeworms. The set list began with their song “Mama Don’t”, a song of abject objections and defiance against a systemic set of rules. It was rad to hear it!
Their second song, “Summer Sun”, gave tones of Lana Del Rey in Henry’s vocals and tempo. Their sound, especially near the end, cemented my interest in this band concretely.
“Uknown”, the next song, was dark, almost a little sultry. It had a slightly quicker tempo than the previous song and was interesting in many senses.
Apparently, the fourth song, “Golden Brown”, is , according to Ruen Brothers, “a really cheerful song about heroin – don’t f***ing do it!”. This song is a cover of an original song of the same name by The Stranglers. There was a call-and-response section to this piece, and while the audience seemed unfamiliar with this, the song was no less amazing. Ruen Brothers made it their own!
“The Good Surely Die” and “Slow Draw”, the next two songs performed, are from their latest album, Ten Paces. Apparently, a new album is coming soon as well!
The seventh song performed, “The Fear”, is probably my favorite song they played at the venue. Despite dark, foreboding subject matter, the lively tempo and upbeat performance were a strong juxtaposition to that. I loved this song.
The final song Ruen Brothers performed, “Hares on the Mountain”, is a cover of an old folk song from the late 1800’s. The song was forlorn, romantic, and almost wistful. It was a lovely song to hear live.
Overall, Ruen Brothers’ music was fantastic to hear. This was a stellar opener to Will Wood and the Tapeworms, and they made the absolute right choice by booking them for any part of this tour.
Some Notes On Anthology
Before we go on to talk about Will’s perfomance with the Tapeworms, we have to address the hot, sweaty elephant that was growing in the venue by the time Ruen Brothers ended their set. Anthology is an interesting venue with a lot of space, but there were a few issues here.
For one, there is very limited accessibility accommodation in the venue itself. I was happy to see so many people with mobility issues attending this concert and so many employees willing to help them out, but the venue itself is inherently difficult to navigate for those with disabilities. Plus, the restrooms are down a flight of stairs and not only aren’t accessible, but not easy to find in the first place. That’s not great.
Furthermore, as the venue filled, it got so hot there. One person in front of us had to be escorted out, having fainted moments before. They rested for a few minutes outside the glass door before returning. I get that venues get stuffy with more attendees, but this should never have to happen.
Other than that, the venue is really a cool one. The lighting and acoustics were fantastic, and I was happy to be able to hear everything up front from pretty far back. Plus, Britt got her awesome photos of the event from roughly the same spot I was situated.
With that, let’s discuss Will Wood and the Tapeworms, on their reunion set at Anthology, in Rochester, NY!
Will Wood and the Tapeworms
Will Wood opened the set with a half-solo performance of “Sex, Drugs, Rock’n’Roll” from his solo album In case I make it,. I say “half-solo” because deep into the performance the Tapeworms arrived and began their musical accompaniment. This was a fabulous song. It’s not typically my favorite of Will’s solo pieces either, but hearing it through the lens of the Tapeworms’ backing instrumentation, I could appreciate it anew.
Next, the band performed “6up 5oh Cop-Out (Pro/Con)”, one of their classics from Everything Is A Lot. This song is always a rousing piece, and the addition of it being live only served to make it more so. The audience was really feeling this one.
After this, we were treated to “Suburbia Overture/Greetings From Mary Bell Township!/Vampire Culture/Love, Me Normally”, the medley of very cool songs that grace the start of The Normal Album. There were a couple of neat, albeit slightly minor, variations to this song that you’d have to hear live to know more about. This was such a good performance and I will always cherish this song for its theatricality.
Next, “The Main Character”. This song played very similarly to how it was on In case I make it, but it was still fun to hear. There is nothing bad I can say about this specific performance.
Afterwards, we got the rare treat of a song from Self-ISH: this time, it was “Mr. Capgras Encounters a Secondhand Vanity: Tulpamancer’s Prosopagnosia / Pareidolia (As Direct Result of Trauma to Fusiform Gyrus”. “Mr. Capgras” (for short) is such a fabulous song to hear live. I don’t want to describe this one too much in case other concertgoers are treated to this one as well, because you should absolutely listen to this live if you can!
The next song the band played was “Skeleton Appreciation Day in Vestal, NY (Bones)”. I was really enthused to hear one of the songs from the solo pre-show played here as well, so I could have a strict comparison point between the two shows. Frankly, between the two, I think Will rocked this one a bit more solo, but this could also be because he played it there earlier. The verdict is out, but I think I liked his solo performance of “Bones” more. It was still great with the Tapeworms, though!
Next, the band played “To Err Is Human, So Don’t Be One”, one of Will’s tracks from Camp Here and There‘s soundtrack. It was a fun performance, but the slightly lower tempo lulled the crowd just a little bit by my perception.
However, that lull was quickly quelled by the next song. “BlackBoxWarrior – OKULTRA” is one of Will’s biggest songs off of The Normal Album and it showed in the audience’s enthusiasm for it! Whenever we get the monologue from “BlackBoxWarrior”, it’s always something new and fresh. We all got to answer Will’s ultimate question this time: “Do ideas spread because they’re good?” And the answer is an emphatic “NO!”
With the audience reinvigorated, we went on to “Against The Kitchen Floor”, a significant song from ICIMI. This song often gets me sentimental, and it did this time as well. It’s a powerful song, and I loved hearing it again after the first time hearing it live during Slouching Towards Bethlehem/Branson.
Only halfway into the set, Will then performed “Laplace’s Angel”, a song that most certainly had the audience enthralled. However, after this track, Will was going to play “I/Me/Myself”, except, to his dismay, some “memelords” almost ruined this. Will chose to skip it for “Memento Mori: the most important thing in the world”. This song helped me get through my grandfather’s passing, as it were, so I was happy to hear it. Nevertheless, Will then proceeded to appease the rest of the audience with “I/Me/Myself”, which is such a good song that it would’ve been an absolute travesty to miss.
Next, the band performed “2econd 2ight 2eer (that was fun, goodbye.)”, a fun and zany sort of song from The Normal Album. It was boisterous, as one might expect, and wasa good time for everyone.
The final song before an encore was Will, by himself, performing “…well, better than the alternative”, a sentimental piece presumably about his “fake” daughter Millie, modeled after Millie Bobby Brown‘s character “Eleven” from Stranger Things. The more I hear it the more I wonder if there’s more to it than that. Nevertheless…
Additional songs performed were “Dr. Sunshine Is Dead!”, a song I have never heard live, but was my very first exposure to Will Wood and the Tapeworms’ music. I know that Will has had a difficult, perhaps shifting, view of this song’s popularity, but it raised the roof for the crowd at Anthology that evening. After this, we got “Front Street”, which was a fabulous way to end the night officially. Playing us off was the incomparable sound of “Big Fat Bitchie’s Blueberry Pie, Christmas Tree, and Recreational Jell-O Emporium a.K.a. “Mr. Boy Is on the Roof Again” (From “B.F.B.’s B-Sides: Bagel Batches, Marsh-Mallows, & Barsh-Mallows”). This was such a delightful way to play off the audience.
The band was a wonder to listen to live, full and happy. Of note, DJ Scully, on bass, was such a delight to watch jumping about while performing, but the entire band was so good! Mike Bottiglieri, Mario Conte, and Matt Berger were also remarkable. And to top things off, Will Wood himself seems so in his element. After taking a hiatus from music in 2023, I think he has found himself in a big way, and we are all the better for it.
