Prodigious DJ and producer Whethan brought his Life of a Wallflower Tour to San Francisco's Warfield Theatre on Thursday, October 18, delivering a big bass, feel-good kind of night with support from Yoshi Flower and Louis Futon.
The 19-year-old artist born Ethan Snoreck has amassed an impressive following in the short time since he burst onto the scene with a slew of impressive Soundcloud remixes in 2016.
Along the way, he's shown an impressive consistency in his sonic style.
Standout singles in the steady list he's released in the last year and a half include High featuring Dua Lipa, Savage, with MAX and Flux Pavilion, and Superlove, featuring British pop duo Oh Wonder. These epitomize Whethan's ability to wrap his standout synth and bass timbres around hooks inspired by his ever-expanding base of influences.
Whethan laced his set with segments of more freeform beat play between his popular originals, maintaining a steady feel throughout.
He also opted to perform behind a transparent projector screen.
Though it made for a difficult photo night, the setup also included screens on either side, lasers, and floor flighting, making for one psychedelic visual performance.
Occupying the main support slot was LA-based multi-instrumentalist Louis Futon.
The 26-year-old has a magnetic smile and demeanor, made more prominent on this night with help from trumpet player Ariel Shrumpet.
The two showed dynamic presence and timing on stage. Each also kills on their respective instruments, which always helps.
"He's gonna be here all night. And we're gonna have some fun tonight, let's go," Futon said shortly after introducing Shrumpet.
Futon, like Whethan, was tight in his set structure, mixing his popular singles including Endless Sea, Rewind, and Fall On Me with some surprisingly heavy remixes of and plenty of brass-filled funk throughout.
Born Tyler Minford, Futon has steadily pushed his way up and through the electronic music scene, often including elements of hip-hop and R& B.
Yoshi Flower opened the show with great energy, slashing away with complex guitar riffs.
Touring first with The Chainsmokers in 2017, then on his own for the Good Nights tour, Whethan continues to hone his live performance and with Radar, the first single off his forthcoming The Life of a Wallflower Volume 1 project, may have given fans a good indicator of what to expect for his next release.
"It's a great representation of the sound I've been inspired by and I'm thrilled to finally show the world this song with HONNE," he said.
Just last week, he also appeared on the Jimmel Kimmel show last to promote the release of Every Step That I Take with Tom Morello and Portugal. The Man.
Whethan will wrap up the 30-city Life of a Wallflower tour this weekend with the penultimate stop coming in Los Angeles tonight, and the conclusive performance slated for San Diego on Sunday, October 21.
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