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It’s like the weather knew. The sky hung heavy and gray over the Strip on September 2 as shoegaze heavyweights Whirr and Nothing rolled into the House of Blues, casting a fitting shadow over an evening full of feedback, existentialism and wall-to-wall guitar pedal worship.
Bathed in moody blue lights and the occasional screech from the onstage soundcheck, droves of newer and lifelong fans of shoegaze packed in. The room pulsed in anticipation of seeing Whirr, a band that’d been mostly inactive over the past decade.
Los Angeles openers Luster fueled their enthusiasm with a solid, swirling set. But it was Philadelphia’s Nothing who plunged the room into the deep end. Touring behind a catalog that includes Guilt of Everything, Tired of Tomorrow, Dance on the Blacktop and The Great Dismal, the band proved again why they’ve become masters of modern shoegaze.
Domenic “Nicky” Palermo’s lyricism, drenched in existential dread, transformed the room’s energy, balancing crushing guitars with an abrasive emotional vulnerability. It's music that grips you by the collar, then gently asks how you're really doing. Towards the end of the set, Palermo offered a darkly funny memory from the band's first Vegas gig in 2015 at the now-shuttered Bunkhouse Saloon with Whirr.
“We knew we were in Vegas when we saw a pair of legs sticking out of a bush,” said Palermo before detailing how the band witnessed some unsolicited hanky panky. The audience giggled, because yeah, sounds like Vegas on a typical Wednesday night.
The stop on their joint 2025 tour felt like a long-awaited victory lap. The two bands released a split EP back in 2014 via Run for Cover Records, and their paths have seemingly been interlinked ever since.
Whirr closed the night in a near-whisper—at least from the mic. The Modesto, California, quintet let their instruments speak, bleeding each track into the next with interludes lifted from Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. They locked into their pedals without a sound and ran through a set of songs mostly plucked from their latest album Raw Blue.
Loren Rivera’s subdued vocals barely cut through the mix, but that’s by design. Showing that this wasn’t a sing-along, but more of a masterclass in sonic texture, a long slow burn of fuzzed out emotion. To our surprise, mini mosh pits swelled during Whirr’s set, often trying to match the heightening atmospheric sound on stage.
Shoegaze, once the niche domain of underground obsessives, is now in full resurgence, thanks in part to its growing popularity on social media. Terrible news for gatekeepers. Great news for bands like these, finally getting their flowers and their fans.
So, if you weren’t there, the only real question is: “Whirr” were you?
English (US) ·