We Were There: Wild Light and Doves

On Further Review
by Nick Parker

The Scene:
The House of Blues Boston - 6/7/2009

Last Sunday night at the House of Blues was a chance to witness the fanfare of the last night of a tour. Doves and Wildlight have been on the road together for the last month or so. Appropriately enough, it was the songs from both bands about home that made for the high points of two great sets.

WILD LIGHT played an Incredible Set

Molly Moormeier photograph

We met Wildlight’s drummer, Seth Kasper, on the way into the show and wished him luck. As it turned out, Seth and the band didn't need our well-wishing, though. Wildlight played with the confidence of a band on its way to big things, but with the humility of one that can still see all the way down. Their ability to switch between any of three similarly talented front men, all seemingly able to play bass, guitar, keys and sing, while still keeping a sense of cohesion in their sound, was really impressive. From a small kit too, Kasper managed to play a great mix of beats to ground the tracks that many of us have been praising from their debut album, "Adult Nights."

The ‘hometown’ song, “New Hampshire,” was the best thing Wildlight played that night. In the middle of the track all four members of the band repeated together “My family, one [two/three] generation[s] ago.” The audience, some of whom perhaps came only to see the headline act, were pulled into a image of this band’s rootedness in their home which (the applause suggested) won over many new followers. We would definitely see Wild Light play again!

DOVES started a little slow but ended strong

Doves photo courtesy of the HAD archives

Perhaps because it was also the last night of their US tour, Doves showed some signs of fatigue at the start of their set which started a little flat. It took two or three tracks before drummer Andy Williams in particular hit his stride. With such bass driven melodies though, the warmth of Doves music was clear from the first.

Like Wildlight’s song about their home, Doves played an excellent version of their single from the Some Cities album, “Black and White Town,” accompanied by video footage of the city in England where they come from. They had even a Sunday night crowd jumping from start to finish. We haven’t seen Doves play around here for several years. Let’s hope the crowd’s enthusiasm that night will persuade them that they have a home here in Boston too.

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