Los Angeles Goes All Out with Towa Bird
Los Angeles, California - September 16, 2026
Towa Bird graced the El Rey Theatre with her presence on Wednesday night and made sure to bring the good vibes with her.
Towa released her sophomore album, Gentleman, earlier this year in May, and subsequently embarked on the aptly named “The Gentleman Tour” on Sept. 13 in San Francisco. Dreampop artist Mother Soki is opening on the tour.
The lights dimmed at the El Rey, and the crowd immediately erupted into various barking and whooping sounds. Over a voice recording, Towa introduced the tour and asked the audience to “please make yourselves right at home, enjoy the show, and hold onto those wigs.” Towa and her band then stepped out on stage, all clad in suits and ties— matching the Gentleman album cover and aesthetic. She kicked off the show with “Gentleman,” the title track from her album, and fans burst into the opening lyrics.
Towa continued the show with songs from Gentleman, “Gap In Your Teeth” and “Don’t Wanna Hear About It.” As the next song from the album, “All Gone,” started with its opening chugging guitar and drum beat, Towa thanked the crowd and bantered with them by teasing, “Do you know this one? Okay, just checking!” The fun track, plus a call-and-response between Towa and the crowd before the last chorus, had bodies moving and bouncing from the GA pit up the El Rey’s balcony.
Without stopping, the band switched to the next tune, “Ew,” as Towa introduced it as “a bit of an old one,” before playing the song’s recognizable guitar riff. As a fan favorite from her debut album, American Hero, this was the loudest the audience had been so far. Screaming every note, even overpowering Towa’s own vocals, the crowd’s sheer volume had Towa laughing. She returned the favor by leaving the crowd cheering for her guitar solo inclusion, reminding fans of her roots as a killer guitarist.
Towa also showed vulnerability with her fans through tracks like “This Isn’t Me.” Fans reciprocated the intimate gesture by giving Towa their undivided attention and lighting up the venue with phone flashlights.
“What’s everyone’s favorite song?” Towa asked her audience after finishing “This Isn’t Me,” and was met with hundreds of voices shouting their favorites at her. “My personal favorite song is called ‘Dog,’” she responded to the audience before performing the track. All night, the audience had been barking at Towa between songs, but this gave them an excuse to bark and howl as loud as they could, and they did not miss the opportunity.
Towa’s audience interactions and the clear joy she felt sharing a space with her fans cannot go unmentioned. Through a combination of her music and attitude, she creates a safe and welcoming environment for fans to let go and feel “at home,” as she stated in the voiceover during her set’s intro.
After “Dog,” the band performed “Daisy,” another song from Gentleman. Courtesy of a fan project, fans at the front of the pit held up daisy flowers for the first verse of this lover-girl song, before throwing them on stage and around Towa during the first chorus.
When introducing the next song of the night, “Victoria,” Towa spoke earnestly with the crowd, “This is a really special song. It’s about growing up and not necessarily feeling like you fit into the rooms that you’re in, and feeling like a bit of an outlier, and that’s really fucking hard. But you grow up, and you get to write songs about it, and you get to have a beautiful community like this one.” Fans cried as Towa sang, expressed their love for her as she finished up the song, and subsequently wiped their tears on Towa’s command to get “back to the sexy shit.”
After playing “69 BPM” from her new album, Towa performed “Deep Blue,” an unreleased track. She finished the pre-encore set with “B.I.L.L.S.,” Towa’s anti-capitalistic high-energy anthem that got both her and the audience jumping three feet in the air. Despite “B.I.L.L.S.” being one of the set’s final songs, Towa’s stamina was clearly still high as she fed off the crowd’s infectious energy.
Classic to a Towa Bird show, she ended the set with “Drain Me!,” and, in her words, she saved “the best for last.”
Towa delivered a seemingly perfect performance on Wednesday to her devoted fans. Her musicality never faltered as she delivered a sonically interesting and impressive show featuring her guitar prowess alongside her band. And she showcased how powerful connecting with your audience is in order to create a community that embraces and uplifts you.
You can get tickets to Towa Bird’s tour here, and stream her new album, Gentleman, here.
