Words and Photos by Nancy Soriano-Villa
You’re always in Good Company with The Walters.
On Sunday, March 15th, The Walters and Small Forward played to a sold out crowd at the Lodge Room in Highland Park. Folks lined up an hour early to make sure that they got a good spot to see the band up close and personal. The crowd also had plenty of Walters memorabilia in the form of t-shirts, CDs, and vinyl that fans were hoping to get signed. The oldest merch that was sighted was a pair of cassettes of The Walters first two releases that had a very simplistic outline of the cover art and handwritten titles on the spine of the cassettes. These were later signed by two members of the band, who got a kick out of seeing such old merchandise.
Local Los Angeles based band Small Forward opened the night with a lovely set filled with dreamy melodies and the occasional folky harmonica. The band formed in 2015—just one year after The Walters themselves—and have featured on a variety of television shows. Even though the bassist had unfortunately injured his foot in a basketball accident, the four-piece’s sound was not affected and they played to an attentive crowd. All in all, the music beautifully accompanied the Lodge Room’s gorgeous lighting.
In between sets, and before the show, The Lodge Room played a mix of classic cartoons from Fleischer Studios as well as Looney Tunes. It was fun getting to see familiar characters with a soul and indie soundtrack. The time passed quickly and before the crowd realized, the band was walking out to Coldplay.
When The Walters had their first national tour in 2017, the initial venue that they played at was the now-closed Hi Hat on York Boulevard in Highland Park. It was a high-energy, rowdy show. When that tour ended, however, the original line-up disbanded officially.
When TikTok began to rise in prominence as a new medium for musicians to share their music and reach new fans, their song “I Love You So” went viral and reunited the band once more in late 2021. The lineup currently consists of Luke Olson (lead singer), Walter Kosner (lead guitar), Danny Wells (bass), Charlie Ekhaus (drums), and Liam Jones (keyboard/rhythm guitar/backing vocals).
Although the band lives in different states now, they still come together to make music and even put out an album last year titled Good Company. They also released a single this month titled “Bodega”—in which drummer Charlie takes lead vocals for the first time in the band’s history.
They played a long set of 20 songs, plus an encore, to an eager crowd ready for every single song. Luke, whose energy has not diminished as he has gotten older, bounced around the stage, danced with his bandmates, and came in close to sing to the crowd. Liam, just as enthusiastic, would often come up to the edge of the stage to play guitar close to the fans. Danny and Walter kept it cool, but interacted with fans in between songs and played their instruments with such an easy familiarity that you were reminded that the band has been playing together for twelve years now. Charlie, who eventually came out to sing “Bodega”, smiled happily as he observed the crowd and focused on being center stage since it was the band’s first time playing the track live.
Their setlist was a good mix of old hits and newer songs. “I Love You So” was played third to last and Luke thanked TikTok for helping in their return to the music scene as The Walters. The fans sang as loudly as they could to accompany the band as they performed their hit song. Although it was the loudest the audience got, there were plenty of Walters fans who sang along to the whole setlist.
Although they did not prepare an encore, the cheers from the crowd were so loud that the audience managed to lure the band back onstage. They played a reprise of their final song “Hunk Beach” and really turned the energy levels up to ten. Luke made his way into the crowd and shared a personal experience that many fans caught on their phones. He made his way across the front and even started a bit of a mosh pit with the left side of the crowd.
When he finished, the stage lights came down, house lights came up, and Luke walked through the crowd to a spot where he greeted fans, took photos, and signed merchandise. The Walters have always been very kind to their fanbase. Although it has been nine years since their first show in Los Angeles, local fans came out to support their old friends, the Walters.
