Winnetka Bowling League doesn’t play Nashville often so Monday night (July 15) at Exit/In was quite a treat. Their set brought songs new and old along with a very special guest.
If you don’t know the three-piece band, stop reading this and hit play on their debut album Sha La La before you keep reading. Winnetka Bowling League first caught our attention in 2019 with “Slow Dances,” an infectious, feel-good track. But this debut album really has us hooked (so far, it’s our favorite album of the year). It’s 10 tracks with zero skips so it was fun to see them play many of these songs at a historic Nashville venue.
WBL took the stage not long after 9:30, starting with the lead single and title track from Sha La La. That garnered a big response from the crowd who danced along with lead singer Matthew Koma’s vocals. That led straight into one of our favorite songs from the album, “America in Your 20s.” Judging by the audience, that song is a standout on this record.
Koma addressed the audience after a couple of songs, detailing his “Nashville experience,” which included meeting the adorable Doug the Pug. The New York native regularly addressed the crowd, discussing his time in therapy and how “you can still be an asshole” if you’re in therapy. He got a lot of laughs from the Exit/In audience as he talked about his conflict resolution issues and joked about signing an angry Instagram commenter up for the Army.
“No One’s Ever Kissed You,” “Astrology & Context,” “Handsome,” “Breakfast for Dinner,” and “Happy Adjacent” were some of the other newer tracks we heard during the hour-and-a-half set that ended with “Slow Dances.” We were treated to a very Nashville experience when Koma surprised us with Nicholas Carpenter, better known as Medium Build. He’s featured in Winnetka Bowling’s League’s newest song “This is Life,” featuring their heroes, Dawes. That track got the biggest reaction from the Exit/In crowd.
The Tourgasm Tour is a lot of good vibes and even better music. If they’re coming to your city, we highly recommend snagging a couple of tickets and enjoying a memorable night of music. Check out their full list of tour dates here.
