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Indie band's singer names ‘best venue in America' — and it's not in New England
Wilderado guitarist Tyler Wimpee has played tons of venues with his band, but one stands out among the rest.
The indie rock trio officially kicked off their tour in April and already made a splash at a rainy Boston Calling last month.
The band is set to play Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, on June 12 before a small string of headlining shows.
While Wimpee told MassLive that 'it's a huge deal' to play a music festival, he's most excited to get back to Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, when the band opens for The Revivalists this fall.
'They asked us to come play Red Rocks with them, and it's going to be hard to beat that night,' Wimpee said before revealing why.
'We've gotten lucky enough to play there twice, once with one of our good friends, Mt. Joy,' the musician said. 'It's the best venue in America, arguably.'
Wilderado, an Oklahoma-based band — which also consists of lead singer Max Rainer and drummer Justin Kila — is riding high off its recent success. The band's song 'Higher Than Most,' which came off their positively reviewed sophomore album 'Talker,' recently hit the Top 20 on the Alternative Radio chart. Wilderado performed the hit single on CBS Saturday Morning in January before announcing a fall headlining tour. The band will also serve as the supporting act for The Head and The Heart this summer and open for The Revivalists at Red Rocks on Oct. 9.
'We've been opening for bands that we've grown up listening to and love,' Wimpee told MassLive at Boston Calling. 'The Head in the Heart specifically is one that we were fans of before the band (Wilderado) even existed, and so it feels like a full-circle moment for Max and I to be able to go and open for them and share a stage with them.'
Wilderado formed in 2015 after Rainer and Wimpee met while attending Baylor University in Waco, Texas. The band was initially named Bird Dog, but was forced to rebrand after getting a pre-cease and desist order from another band using the same name.
The band ' suggested that we either do a battle of the bands for the name, or we change our name. And for some reason, we just decided we didn't want to do the battle of the bands thing, and we just changed our name,' Wimpee said.
Wilderado is now named after a small town in the Texas panhandle called Wildorado, which has no complaints about the Tulsa trio's title.
'Their school district is really supportive and we're supportive of the Wildorado Mustangs,' Wimpee said.
After Bonnaroo, Wilderado will headline shows from June 21 to July 29 before joining The Head and the Heart's tour on July 31.
The band will usher in the fall with another string of headlining shows before joining The Revivalists as the last stop on their 2025 tour.
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Read the original article on MassLive.
