Voodoo Room at House of Blues was ecstatic as singer-songwriter, Wallice, came to San Diego to kick off her 2025 North American tour. The pumped crowd packed in tight in the venue as the show featured “Flash In The Pan” and “I Want You Yesterday”, both tracks from her debut album, The Jester.

Closebye was the night’s lone opener of the show and prepped the audience for a good time. Not only was it the first show of the tour, but the band’s first time in San Diego as they’re originally from New York City. They had a similar sound to Wallice, mixing soft acoustic sounds with an electric atmosphere. They went on to play songs from their 2024 album, Hammer of My Own, including the title track before finishing the set with a new song titled “The Exorcist.”

After the band exited off stage, it was time to disassociate till the act of the night came out. Looking around, you’d think you were at a circus instead of an indie concert. Fans dressed as clowns and jesters, topped with makeup, and a tall triangle hat to match the album’s theme and cover.

The lights dimmed and the music died down before Wallice and crew walked on stage. She appeared in a big puffy dress with makeup on to again support the album’s jester theme and compliment the audience on doing the same. Throughout the set, Wallice weaved before old favorites and new songs from the debut album. They went into playing “Punching Bag” early into the set and was the song that introduced me to Wallice. That song was one that was included in Spotify’s “Lorem” playlist along with other artists I’d also get into, that helped her music get heard at a bigger rate.

Wallice then went into playing more songs from the new album, including “Deadbeat” and “The Opener”. The latter is about being an opening artist for a concert playing the stereotype of someone no one knows while everyone waits for the real show to start as soon as they leave and finish their songs. The L.A. singer-songwriter’s presence on stage wasn’t overly energetic but welcoming and friendly. Thinking of what to say in between songs, she mentioned bringing her dog with her on tour, before someone in the crowd asked if it was true she doesn’t do encores, she swiftly replied that she didn’t believe and would honor her word going to the merch booth after the show to meet fans.

And that’s exactly what she did. She went into performing some of her best-known rockers to close the night including “Best Friend” and “Funeral”, which quickly became the crowd’s favorite.

“‘Cause we’re dancing at my funeral / I wanna rock and roll, oh / When my body leaves my soul / The crowd’s gonna lose control,” the crowd screamed singing along with Wallice as everyone jumped up and down.

While my strongest interest in indie music was in high school, Wallice brings this back to life for me as her unique voice and relatable lyricism make for the perfect soundtrack for anything going on in your life, It just might spark your own interest.