Photo Gallery: I Don’t Know How, But They Found Us In Boston

Frontman Dallon Weekes of I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME performing at Boston’s Big Night Live

All photos taken and edited by Rebecca Zaharia // @rebczn

I don’t really remember how I first found I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME (often stylized as iDKHOW), but it seems as if one morning they simply emerged into my musical consciousness—much in the same way that the duo first crept into the alternative music scene unannounced. The band first started in late 2016 with an appearance at Emo Nite Los Angeles, and their early years consisted of secret performances and denial of the band’s existence. Frontman Dallon Weekes and drummer Ryan Seaman have their fair share of musical experience, having been involved in a band called The Brobecks together as well as Panic! At the Disco and Falling in Reverse respectively, and their expertise shows. While their main discography only includes their ep 1981 Extended Play and debut album Razzmatazz, Weekes and Seaman have cultivated a glamorous indie pop sound and visual aesthetic that hearkens back to the ’80s. Even their name is a reference to a line from Back to the Future. Their unique approach to this band conceptually—an act lost from a different time—has captured the interest of many and steadily brought their music into the limelight.

Feeling frustrated every time an opportunity to see iDKHOW live has slipped through my fingers, I’ve kept tabs on this duo and hoped to eventually get the chance. It’s only fitting that the Boston show of The Thought Reform Tour, my first time hearing any of their music in person, also marked my debut as a concert photographer. Weekes and Seaman brought “glam wham” to Big Night Live on February 6th, and left a whole host of Bostonians with nostalgia and bliss.

IDKHOW’s stage presence contrasted their reticent debut as a band. The concert was a theatrical event backdropped by a neon sign and an abundance of potted plants that, somehow, made complete sense together. Weekes leaned into the band’s sonic vibe when he performed—executing a perfect blend of vividness, elegance and mystery—and played up his position as the frontman. If you want to hear soaring high notes and smooth basslines, an iDKHOW show is the place to be.

Drummer Ryan Seaman of iDKHOW delivering on a “weird” set at Big Night Live

The concert was also an interactive extravaganza where the audience was asked to sing backing vocals on several of their songs, especially in the “weird,” as Weekes put it, portion of the night. The “weird” set included covers of songs like “Visitation of the Ghost” and “A Letter” by The Brobecks. The unexpectedness of their show continued well into the night. Weekes added a verse to their song “Sugar Pills” and sang, “Everybody here has got their vaccination,” a nod to the fact that many venues—Big Night Live included—now require proof of vaccination upon entry. The most satisfying moment, however, was when Matt Blitzer, lead singer of opening band Superet, came on stage and sang a verse of an altered rendition of iDKHOW’s “Nobody Likes the Opening Band”. . .about how no one likes the headlining band. This cheeky and entertaining play on their own music has entered my personal list of iconic moments in music history.

An iDKHOW concert is the kind of show where you forget you’re also working, where the charisma of the music arrests you and you have to remind yourself to press the shutter button on your camera. These are the moments I kept with me, the ones that I wanted to immortalize. Take from them whatever emotion finds you.

Check out Rebecca Zaharia’s photo gallery from iDKHOW’s performance !!