On July 22, 2023, I got the opportunity to experience The Garden live. They played at The Observatory in Orange County, the city in which the boys who formed the band grew up. The unforgettable event would be otherwise known as “One Strange Night in Orange County.”
The band didn’t go on until about 9:30 p.m., which gave me plenty of time to apply four different types of white face paint that evening. I hung bananas from my belt loops, drew my smile out to my ears, and made my way to Orange County. The audience was nothing I had ever seen before. The line up was incredibly energetic; each band at the show had everyone singing and moving. The crowd was filled with jesters, clowns, and face paint. I was 14 years old when The Garden’s fifth album was released.
In 2020, nine years after the band was founded, The Garden had released their album, “Kiss My Super Bowl Ring” on March 13, 2020. Coincidentally, March 13 was the day my school was released for what felt like the never ending COVID-19 pandemic. The night my freshman year had been cut short, I found myself trapped in my room downloading every song The Garden had produced, been featured in, or created.
The Garden is an experimental rock band created by twin brothers Wyatt and Fletcher Shears. The band began in 2011, but music has always been a great influence in the boys’ life, according to reporters from Into the Gloss, a website covering beauty through influencers. The Garden is a very unique and punky band, but the Shears’ refer to their genre as “vada vada”, a term they made up.
“Our genre is a little hard to describe. We call it vada vada—we made it up. It’s really our own universe…it’s hard to say if it’s punk or rap so we just gave it a new name,” Wyatt Shears said during an interview with Into the Gloss in 2014.
Their performances are extremely eccentric. Wyatt and Fletcher began using face paint at shows in order to create a good vibe for the audience, and essentially identify themselves. I arrived at the show dressed as a broken jester. The bottom half of my face was covered in white face paint, while my smile was thickly drawn over in black eyeliner. When my parents saw me, they exchanged some confused looks, yet nothing could stand in the way of how excited I was to finally see my favorite band live.
The Observatory was almost completely full. I began far in the back. I stood on my tippy-toes as I moved my way through the audience. By the end of the fourth song, I was face to face with Wyatt Shears. It felt like all his energy was suddenly being released as he sang my favorite song from my favorite album. Once the show was over, I didn’t get home until around 2 a.m. Although I was physically exhausted, I could help but stay up all night. I scrolled through photos and videos, searching for upcoming shows. I will never forget how much this band has impacted my life and pushed me to evolve into the lively person I am today.
