Early arrivals to Wild Child’s first performance in our city were greeted with the wonderful local folk harmonies of Boston’s own Tales of Olde and the world music infused, electro-dub Holiday Mountain, who also originated in Boston and were returning for their first performance since relocating to Austin, TX. The small Sunday night crowd moved closer and closer to the stage after each performance, as the high energy and thumping bass brought relief from the blistering cold outside of Great Scott.
Wild Child took to the intimate stage to loud applause and much excitement as the loyal Boston fans had waited since 2011 to see Wild Child in person. Kelsey Wilson, one of the duo of lead singers and the magical voice behind Wild Child, welcomed the crowd and took us right into one of many mid-tempo folk songs from their recently released sophomore effort, The Runaround. Wild Child kept things fresh throughout the evening transitioning their story-telling ballads into raucous food-stomping jams.
The duelling vocals of Kelsey and her bandmate Alexander Beggins add multiple layers to their harmonies and back-and-forth lyrics. They offered an even sampling of both of their LPs and kept the crowd entranced for 50 min until announcing they’d close their set with fan favorite “Pillow Talk” from the middle of the crowd. The sweet serenade played acoustically in such close quarters, completely in the dark except for phone cameras, recreated the intimacy that resonates in the song. It was a stunning and sweet way to end a great night of some compelling harmonies and swaying tunes.