“When the doors of Backroom Studios in Rockaway, New Jersey opened up, a small group of rabidly excited fans poured into the three-room spread where the live album recording could be held. The rooms were littered with balloons, confetti, and streamers. In one large and fairly empty room sat two microphones, two televisions, and a keyboard. “
The excerpt above was taken from a Will Wood show review I wrote just over one year ago. As cliché as it is to say, the only thing you can expect from a Will Wood show is the unexpected. And I don’t just mean that in the “confetti and human teeth hurled into the audience” kind of way. Because when I entered Backroom Studios on Friday, May 25, that is exactly what I would have expected.
Instead, I found a very intimate and quite subdued crowd, a couple of couches and an upright piano. This hardly felt like the chaotic scene I had grown accustom to at Wood’s concerts. This felt more like being invited into someone’s living room to listen to old vinyl records.
Even Wood himself seemed to be more subdued and more personally connected and sensitive to the audience. The night itself was homage to Will Wood and The Tapeworm’s first album, Everything Is A Lot. Three years have passed since their iconic album was released, and Will immediately addressed the importance of the album on his life personally: “This isn’t a business thing. It’s a life thing.”
As Wood played through Everything Is A Lot on the same upright piano used to record the album, it became more and more clear just how much this music means to him and to the fans, who barely even sang along and instead just enjoyed the moment. Wood was briefly joined on stage by guitar player and Tapeworm, Mike Bottiglieri, who is one of the group’s very few original members (according to Wood, “I’ve been through more Tapeworms than a supermodel with a good connection.”) but for a majority of the evening, the room was filled only with the sound of Wood’s incredible mastery of the piano, along with a few very sincere conversations with audience members and anecdotes about the making of the album and early years of the band; As an into to Thermodynamic Lawyer Esq, G.F.D., Wood said, “There are lyrics in this song that I am sure are career ruiners. This song is the perfect reminder of every regret I have in life.”
Overall, I would describe this show as a beautifully intimate reminder of why we love Will Wood (and The Tapeworms), and why we love DIY and local music scenes in general. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, if you have not gotten into this band yet, what are you waiting for? They are one of the few bands that I have encountered that are as fascinating as a full band with driving percussion, ripping guitars, and saucy horns as they are with just Will Wood and his piano. The raw talent, from writing, to production, to the live show is truly astounding with Will Wood and The Tapeworms, and that was certainly on full display on Friday night.
