Before the show even started I was already interested. The audience on this Halloween night clearly came from all walks of life. There was the Ark’s more typical, older crowd, dressed quite well for their Saturday night out and looking a bit nervous, a bit amused. There were groups of high school students scattered throughout, clinging on to one another, beaming at the crowd around them, thinking they were cool to be here, among these adults. There were the couples: the twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings, dressed like adults with their lives together but still willing to have a bit of fun (AKA the older hipster look), looking like they were freshly graduated, or freshly engaged, or freshly married–looking fresh and ready for the world. Then there were the college students–both in and out of costume. Don’t get me wrong, individuals of all ages were in costumes (I was escorted to my seat by an older Rosie the Riveter), but it was the students who dominated the costume game that night. I saw angels and vampires, farmers and Wes Anderson characters, Tororo and Pikachu, all before the lights dimmed. It was quite the crowd.
Let me say, before I start, that I greatly enjoyed Elliot Moss. And judging by the fact that I left with an Elliot Moss shirt instead of a Wild Child one, I would say that I enjoy Elliot Moss more than Wild Child. However, I’m not sure Elliot Moss is the right choice for an opening act for a band like Wild Child.
They started with the song “Highspeeds,” a song with distorted vocals and deep, dark beats which would sink into your chest until you confused them with your own heartbeats, until your own heart was beating arrhythmically but you didn’t mind the skipping beats. It was a moody song and with the Ark’s acoustics, it sounded pretty good. From there they shifted between their more rock sounds and their ambient noises and these little beats tinkling here and there, so delicate and so fragile, that I was surprised they didn’t break. Although we didn’t know it yet, these sounds would be quite the contrast to Wild Child’s performance.
The crowd responded respectfully. They clapped after every song and they listened with intent. While it was happening, I thought they were really enjoying the performance–but once Wild Child came on, I realized they had been holding back.
An opening act is an uphill battle. You are fighting for a crowd that isn’t yours, a crowd that is waiting for you to leave the stage, waiting to see what they paid for. You have to win this crowd over, convince them you aren’t wasting their time. I’m not sure Elliot Moss did this–nor am I even sure he ever could. Wild Child is a lively, rowdy, folksy band. They move, they dance, they banter. They get you up on your feet and singing and dancing along. They have seven members on stage and instead of a sound where every note is clear, every beat is heard, every string carefully constructed, they have an entire orchestra of noise going on, and while it is wonderful in its own way, it is nothing like the hypnotic waves of Elliot Moss. It is loud. It is powerful. It demands a response.
If that is what the crowd came to see, what hope did Elliot Moss have of winning its heart? While I appreciated the contrast, I think ultimately, he was ill-suited to open for Wild Child. Even the lights of the stage–all colors, all bright, all warm–weren’t right for them and their sound.
Wild Child was well-received.
(Bonus: Image of Wild Child in costume. Most notably Kelsey Wilson dressed as fellow singer, Alexander Beggins.)
