Skaiwater is hiding from their fans.
90 seconds earlier, the 25-year-old had popped out from the backstage catacombs of Chicago’s Avalon Music Hall hunting for a quiet spot to spark up (indica with grabba, rolled in a paper). But the escape was short lived; they’d exited too close to the stage and were promptly spotted by a handful of people lingering near coat check. skai turns on their heel before the throng can even think to mob them and bursts into giggles. Now in a further corner, skai feels safe to spark up. Their lighter is like a flare in the shadows, but at this distance, their fans couldn’t photograph them if they tried.
ADVERTISEMENT
skaiwater has been on tour for 19 days. Tonight is show 13 of 15 and their second performance in Chicago. Avalon Music Hall actually has two rooms, but skaiwater deliberately chose to book the smaller, which feels like it could host a neighborhood battle of the bands. skai wanted every venue to be 300 cap or smaller in an attempt to recapture the energy of seeing beabadoobee at a small club back in 2021. As a result, they say, the tour so far has been “pretty fried.” Every night, fans rush on stage just to fling themselves off, if skaiwater’s bodyguard Black doesn’t throw them back into the crowd himself. Their show in Orlando was especially memorable. “I said to someone the mosh pit looked like boiling water,” skaiwater says.