WILT | The Culture Room | Ft. Lauderdale, FL
September 17, 2026
Photographed by Evianna Hernandez
Graphics by Juliana Harman / Photos + Words by Evianna Hernandez
Every year, the rock scene unofficially nominates a “best new band” — and it is certainly a title few manage to live up to. Wilt are the rare exception, as they have been earning the label the slow way and making it look easy.
Jutes’ Smile You’re On Tour has been rolling across North America since August, carrying the Canadian artist’s new album era into clubs and theaters all the way from Phoenix to Nashville. On every headline date, Los Angeles alt-rockers Wilt have been the ones opening the night and on Sept. 17 at the Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale got to see why.
Wilt arrived with the kind of momentum most openers would kill for. Active since 2022, the band broke through with their 2024 self-titled EP, toured alongside Taylor Acorn, and now stand on the edge of their biggest moment yet: their debut album, when no one’s watching, arriving Oct. 2. The viral L.A. band’s grunge, emo-inspired sound and catchy melodies set against heavier, darker instrumentation has been filling progressively bigger rooms all year. Thursday night was their first time ever playing Fort Lauderdale, and they treated the slot like an audition they intended to win.
From Wilt’s opening notes, the Fort Lauderdale crowd was locked in, and the band fed off that energy right back, doing exactly what the first opener of the night is supposed to do, only better. They had Chelsea Rifkin featuring a powerful vocal performance, Dan Bermudez on drums, and guitarists Aaron Liebman and Andrew Vance not only warming up the room, but hyping it up. Building the kind of momentum that carried straight into the rest of the night.
Their set moved through songs like “dent, ” “bundy,” “the riff” and “bite my tongue,” each one landing harder than the last. “Nothing good to cry about” and “you’re the one to blame” kept the room swaying, while “gwen” showed the softer edge of their sound. Proof that the band’s range goes beyond sheer volume. The crowd went crazy to every song like they’d been waiting for this band specifically, not just killing time before the headliner.
The night’s loudest ovation came from a cover of t.A.T.u.’s “All The Things She Said” that sent the room into a frenzy. It’s the kind of choice that can fall flat in the wrong hands, but in Wilt’s, it became the set’s defining moment; a singalong that turned casual early arrivers into converted fans on the spot.
By the time Wilt cleared the stage, the Culture Room was fully awake and primed for Jutes, with Mothica still to come on a stacked bill. That’s the opener’s job, and they did it better than most manage.
If this is what Wilt sounds like winning over a new city, it’s only a matter of time before they’re the name on the marquee.
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