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Wild Nothing’s Gemini is one of my favorite albums of the last few years, but thus far the only time I’d gotten to see them play live is when they opened for Stars last year at the Trocadero (review here). I enjoyed their set then (much more than the headliners, actually), but it made me wonder what it would be like to see them in a smaller place and in front of their own crowd.
That question was answered this past Monday as Wild Nothing played to a sold-out and jam-packed room at Johnny Brenda’s. Including a one-song encore, the set lasted and hour and consisted mainly of material from Gemini along with “Golden Haze” (from the EP of the same name) and at least one new song. If I have a complaint, it’s that the set started out a bit slow. It did get much better after a slow start, though. As Wild Nothing is basically the solo project of wünderkind Jack Tatum, it’s taken them time for their shows to feel like that of a band and it feels like though they’re getting better, they’re still working out the kinks as they haven’t played together that long yet. Regardless, we didn’t get “O, Lilac” (my favorite on Gemini) or the amazing cover of Kate Bush‘s “Cloudbusting”, but we get all sorts of gems like “Live in Dreams,” “Summer Holiday,” “Chinatown” and other songs that will be considered indie-pop classics one day.
As for openers Twin Sister, I got there about halfway through their set and it was so packed that I couldn’t get to the main area. Thus, as I only heard their set from the bar, I can’t really give them a fair review here. Next time!
