You Know Finn Wolfhard, the Actor. Meet Finn Wolfhard, the Indie Rocker. 

On July 22, Finn Wolfhard’s “Common Side Effects Tour” arrived at Royale, just a block away from Emerson’s campus. The show, originally set to happen at The Sinclair in Cambridge, moved due to increased demand. I was just happy to avoid the god awful shuttle buses replacing a portion of the Red Line. 

Like most of the world, I came to know Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler on Netflix’s crown jewel Stranger Things and the younger version of Bill Hader in the It movie franchise; however, it was my friend Emily who thought I should experience his indie rock stylings. 

The venue felt equally familiar and foreign, as I had previously been to the venue to see 999999999, an acid techno group on the far end of the musical spectrum from Wolfhard. Emily and I theorized about the crowd demographics on our walk to Royale, fully expecting to be in the company of teenage fangirls looking to get footage for their next TikTok fan edit. While that demographic largely dominated the crowd, there were just as many father-son duos who sang along to each song. Oh and yes, there were a few pieces of Stranger Things merch. 

We caught the final song of Wolfhard’s opener, Sleeper’s Bell, before the main act stepped on stage to piercing screams. As a complete newcomer to Wolfhard’s musical stylings, I worried that a concert as my first introduction to the artist would leave me feeling alienated, but the energy from Wolfhard and his band reeled me in. 

With only two solo albums under his belt (he’s previously led the bands Calpurnia and The Aubreys), Wolfhard brought his best to the table. The performance level rarely dipped, except for the rare slow-tempo song. Crowd interactions and props kept things interesting. In Boston, Wolfhard became a man of many hats, flipping between a baseball cap, a fan’s tricorn hat and ending the show with a novelty beer helmet. He also trolled the Boston sports fans in the crowd, poking fun at the Jaylen Brown-sized hole in the Celtics lineup. It also didn’t help that I got a Boston Globe notification about the Red Sox’s loss to the Orioles, suspending any hopes of pushing past their win streak record.

But enough about sports!

Though I thrive in EDM environments that are notoriously void of lyrics (or just very few of them), I gravitated towards the clever, pop-culture infused lines. I laughed out loud during “Lights Go Down” when the song references Nicole Kidman’s AMC speech: “We come to this place for the magic / And isn’t it tragic?” The song title “I’ll Let You Finish” references Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMA’s. While it may be a sore spot for all the Swifties, listen carefully and you just might recognize the last verse of the song because it is in fact the speech from the awards show. And finally, there’s a nod to George W. Bush in the song “Maggie” that might just make you giggle about a certain meme. 

After a much needed cocktail, sandwich, and concert debrief at Parish Cafe, I added a few of my favorite songs from the night to my Spotify playlists. I entered into the concert knowing Finn Wolfhard the actor, that kid from Stranger Things; I left Royale that night having met Finn Wolfhard, the indie rock artist. Give his albums a listen and you might just meet that version of him, too.