I Love You, I’m Trying Tour Makes A Pitstop in Silver Spring

Rained out but this parade wasn’t rained on, DE’WAYNE, K.Flay and Grandson heat up the Fillmore Silver Spring

Where were you on the evening of May 29th, 2023? If your answer isn’t “at the Fillmore Silver Spring for the ‘I Love You, I’m Trying’ tour”, I feel sorry for you. 

A rainy evening in Silver Spring Maryland can’t keep me down, in fact, it doesn’t seem to be bothering a single fan in line for the show. What show? Oh, just DE’WAYNE, K.Flay, and grandson. No biggie. PSYCH. Lining the side of the Fillmore and going all the way down the block and around the corner again, hundreds of fans wait for the doors to open. It’s pouring and not many of them came prepared for precipitation, so they’re getting pretty drenched. Does that change their attitude or how fuckin’ badass they look for the show? Nope. Tons of grandson merch is amongst the crowd, as well as flashy makeup looks and strappy goth boots. The crowd is chattering away as if it were a beautiful sunny day. 

Doors are late but we discover this is due to grandson’s tour bus breaking down. See, K.Flay had been having bus trouble over the weekend and passed the curse on to her bestie. Consequently, grandson had to cancel his meet and greet but that’s not the end of that story. Hang tight. 

DE’WAYNE is the first supporting act this evening and a new artist for me. The lights dim and I cross the barrier, securing my spot in the photo pit before things kick off. DE’WAYNE greets the audience and between words, a gal in the crowd blurts out “Who are you?”, to which he sort of giggles and thanks her for asking. Almost immediately, the crowd member apologizes and DE’WAYNE whips his head around and says “Oh no baby don’t apologize. I love that shit, it builds character.” 

Suddenly, BAM. A kinky-haired good looking dude grasps the mic and begins to serenade us. Not only does he have a fabulous voice, but wow, does he have moves. DE’WAYNE is a hip-thrusting, ass-shaking good time that reminds me a little bit of Prince with his stage presence. Immediately I’m hooked and he’s got me working hard, buzzing back and forth in the photo pit following him as he gyrates about. Another artist just found their home in my music library. 

Next up is K.Flay and I would be lying if I said she wasn’t the main reason I wanted to come to this gig. I discovered Flay about 11 years ago, in a tiny DC venue, and have been a loyal fan ever since. Fast forward to this evening and I’m inches away from her firing away with my camera as she delivers an earthquake of a performance (like she always does). Pinch me! K.Flay is known for her insane onstage energy and tonight is no different. She recently woke up to find she was deaf in her right ear but you really could not tell by watching her. 

She delivers a damn perfect setlist, a fabulous medley of songs new and old, as well as a “Rage Against the Machine” cover, which is a whole lot of hell yeah. The crowd is going wild, I mean screaming so loudly for K.Flay that it’s overpowering my hearing protection. Flay ends her set with a power ballad of a classic, “High Enough.” This is one of her hits; literally, everyone is singing along and jumping with their fists held high. Kristine hangs up the mic and her drummer and guitarist meet her center stage. They lock arms and grin at each other before delivering a thankful bow and leaving the stage. 

There’s a longer intermission before grandson’s set and for good reason. Production is busy building his storytelling set. His backdrop is a dense forest, and there’s a park bench with operational street lamps on either side. At the front of the stage, there are several little risers that are covered with a forest print material to match his backdrop. 

The lights dim and “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen begins to play, and keeps on playing all the way to the end of the song. You already know the crowd sang along without missing a beat. grandson appears on stage and the auditorium is filled with the whistles and screams of his dedicated fans. His intro is spent on the park bench, a little anticlimactic but not for long. He’s wearing a full camo outfit and a jacket with the hood up. As soon as his first song, “Drones” begins, so does the party. grandson has CRAZY energy. Seriously, this guy does not hold still. He’s giving the media crew a run for their money as he darts around the stage, kicking and flailing. He brings out DE’WAYNE for a collaboration on “When the Bomb Goes,” which can only be described as explosive. 

grandson maintains impressive levels of energy for the entirety of his set despite dealing with a broken-down bus and making a mad dash to get to the venue. K.Flay returns to the stage for not one but two songs with her best friend grandson. They play their upbeat jam “Zen” and then slow things down with “Peaches,” which is a really touching performance from the pair. 

K.Flay retires from the stage for the last time and grandson requests that the venue lights are turned off and that the crowd part and turn their phone lights on. He climbs off stage and joins the audience for an emotional performance of “Heather.” It’s my second time hearing the song and I’m close to tears. 

“I wouldn’t be here without you, without you believing. And now that I’m here without you, the words have no meaning.”

He couldn’t end the night and send us home feeling emo, oh no. Grandson drapes himself with a rainbow pride flag and kicks the show back into a lighter mood with “We Did It!”, a real congratulatory tune. As soon as that song ends, he wrangles the crowd to participate in making his last song one to remember. He passes out bottles of water, even tossing a few up onto the balcony, asking everyone to keep the lids on until the beat drops. “Blood // Water” is the closing track, and when the beat drops, Grandson and the holders of water bottles pop the caps off and suddenly it’s raining inside. We really made that last song count and wow, my heart rate is elevated from that one. Truly a sight to see. Everyone bottlenecks out of the auditorium doors and makes their way back outside, where it’s still pouring down rain. 

Remember earlier when I mentioned the canceled meet and greet? A stand-up dude like grandson was not about to leave his fans empty-handed. He pops out of the venue shortly after the show ends and puts on a mini acoustic performance right out front of the venue inside a circle of people. That’s right. No umbrella, no amps, just a stripped-down performance to make it up to his fans for being late. We’re all soaked but there’s not a single person who isn’t totally beaming. It really was the perfect conclusion to a flawless show. 

Click Here for the Full Gallery of the Evening!

If you happened to capture any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see. 

DE’WAYNE

K.Flay

Grandson