IDKHOW Brings Their Best to the Bourbon!

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

What a fun night! I Don't Know How But They Found Me (IDKHOW) absolutely blew the roof off the Bourbon on Tuesday (5.20.25). This was my fourth time seeing the band, so I wasn't expecting any crazy surprises or uncharted territory, but ever the showman, Dallon Weekes and his crew managed to top my last three IDKHOW shows!

Before I get into IDKHOW, I have to shout out our local boys The Real Zebos who opened the show. They killed their set and had the room going crazy! If I had never heard the band before and you told me they were the tour opener I would've believed you 100%. They had so much energy and the crowd was giving it right back. The Zebos have some really fun uptempo numbers that got the place bouncing. While the originals were on point they also did some really fun covers like "Putting on the Ritz" by Taco and a killer rendition of "El Scorcho" by Weezer! The last two songs, "Your Ex Said You Can't Dance" and "Rockstar Skinny" brought the house down. My only note would've been to play "Your Ex" last since it was the most high energy song of the set. I know "Rockstar Skinny" is their most streamed song to date though, so I get closing it out with that one. I saw a lot of Zebos shirts walking around after their set so I know they made a great impression. Hopefully they made a lot of new fans in Lincoln!

After the Zebos it was time for the man of the hour. Dallon stepped out with his effortless swagger and European look of slacks, white shoes, and a green soccer windbreaker. He just oozes style and charisma or "rizz" as my kids would say. The mostly female audience screamed with excitement as the band ripped into "Leave Me Alone", the lead single from their 2020 album, the phenomenal Razzmatazz. I was stoked that following "Leave Me Alone" they played my favorite song "Clusterhug". While I absolutely love IDKHOW's music, the best part of the show was Dallon's quips and jokes to the crowd in-between songs. The thing that sets great front men/women apart is the ability to entertain and do crowd work. The most memorable shows are ones that have little jokes and lots of crowd interaction. I'll never forget Pelle from The Hives (the best front man in the game IMHO) playing Chicago and addressing the crowd all night, SHEE-CAH-GO! He said "You guys have a holiday coming up (July 4). I don't care about holidays, I play rock and roll music! Every day is Saturday to me".

Dallon played with the crowd saying "Lincoln! Am I addressing your city or thinking about the 16th President of the United States? Just based on vibes tell me if I'm thinking Lincoln the city or Lincoln the President". Dallon proceeded to say "Lincoln" in a non-excited voice only to tell the crowd "Oh I was thinking of the President that time". It was a fun little shtick. He also gave a great shout out to the Real Zebos joking that "There must have been some fake Zebos out there, but the Real Zebos stepped in". He said they were a great band and they should be proud of how well they played.

Dallon and his band played a nice mix with cuts from both Gloom Division and Razzmatazz. Dallon even pulled out "Visitation of the Ghost" from his old band the Brobecks. During the song he parted the crowd and walked through with his mega-phone. He made his way up to the bar and walked across the tabletop. I was excited when I got to grab Dallon's hand as he made his way over the railing. Such a cool moment!

After blazing through thirteen songs the band stepped off stage only for the crowd to cheer super loud and bring them back. They closed the show with "No One Likes The Opening Band" and "Razzmatazz". The crowd was deafening as Dallon raised his hand in victory, eventually thanking everyone for coming out. For a Tuesday night the show did very well. It's always hard to get a good read on how many fans showed up but if I had to guess I would say a good 400 possibly 500 since most of the tables up top were filled. Whatever the number, I hope it was enough to earn Nebraska a permanent spot on future IDKHOW tours. This band is so fun live. If you haven't seen them yet you have to put that on your to-do list!

A huge thanks to the Bourbon Theater for hosting and setting up photo access. Thanks for reading and we'll see you at the next one!