Dallon Weekes and the Art of Being Found: iDKHOW Live in Portsmouth
By Megan Bainbridge
On Tuesday evening, a crowd gathered at the Music Hall’s Historic Theater in Portsmouth, NH to enjoy a performance by I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME. The Victorian theater (built in 1878) is ornately decorated with gold trim, red velvet seats, and a matching stage curtain. I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME (also known as “iDKHOW” for short) is the professional pseudonym of singer-songwriter Dallon Weekes.
Weekes, a former contributing member of Panic! At the Disco and the frontman to The Brobecks, formed iDKHOW as a duo in 2017. Today, iDKHOW is a solo project that blends glam music, ‘70s new wave, ‘90s Brit-pop, and indie garage rock. Notably, iDKHOW’s 2017 independently produced single “Choke” is certified platinum, while the 2018 release “Do It All The Time” is certified gold.
iDKHOW opened with “Leave Me Alone,” a fantastic track from 2020 that sounds even better in the stripped-down piano version (yes, you should go listen to it.) “Choke” (as the RIAA has established) is an incredibly successful tune that somehow combines whimsy with sinister schadenfreude. The song is a celebration of loathing–who can resist that?
The lamenting nostalgia of “SIXFT” and the groovy falsetto of “WHAT LOVE?” prove that iDKHOW continues to produce compelling work on his latest album, Gloom Division. Both “MAD IQs” and “Absinthe” performed live are reminiscent of a ghoulish, creepy, and upbeat graveyard party–music you would expect monsters to groove to at a Halloween party.
As a performer, Weekes has a refined sense of humor and a theatrical stage presence. During a transitional tune, he quips that fans should “save their battery” rather than film that portion of the performance. He muses that he can always spot the boyfriends in the crowd and encourages them to buy t-shirts so the band can afford a saxophone. Throughout the performance, he uses his arms expressively to frame his face. He feigns that he is a conductor for the crowd, then becomes one. He instructs the room as a choir, creating harmony and filling the space with the intro to “A Letter” by The Brobecks. Weekes comments on how, despite it being his least popular song, “a room full of people doing that harmony is pretty special.”
Weekes knows how to set boundaries. He asks the crowd: “if you were me and I were you, would you like strangers grabbing at your clothing and pulling your hair?” The crowd shouts, “no!” The singer grabs a megaphone and descends to the theater floor, disappears to the staircase, and reappears on the second-floor balcony. Naturally, upon his explicit request, the crowd respects his personal space. He calls to the crowd through the megaphone and wraps his arm over the shoulder of an audience member. At the end of the set, iDKHOW performs an encore of two additional songs to satiate his cheering fans.
The “Transmitting Live From North America 2026" Tour began on March 20th in Salt Lake City, Utah, and ends on May 10th in Seattle, Washington.
