An upbeat Friday night with Wild Child and Pearl and the Beard at Johnny Brenda’s

Wild Child | Photo by Michelle Montgomery | michellemontgomeryphotography.com

Austin-based indie pop band Wild Child played a fun, upbeat show at Johnny Brenda’s on Friday night. Throughout the night, the group introduced a handful of new songs from their forthcoming album as they performed a mix of material off their most recent album The Runaround (2013) and their debut LP Pillow Talk (2011) to a sold-out crowd. Incorporating several instruments including violin, cello, piano, trumpet, and percussion in their music allows Wild Child to produce a rich and unique sound that is rarely heard in the majority of music produced today. Throughout the set, lead singer and violinist Kelsey Wilson led the group with her enthusiastic and jazzy vocals while the band filled the room with complex harmonies and beats.

Mid-way through the show, most of the band briefly left the stage to Wilson and co-frontman Alexander Beggins where they slowed things down and beautifully performed the acoustic duet “Here Now.” The band frequently interacted with the audience by speaking a little in-between songs and thanking everyone for their support, giving a much more intimate feel to the show. The crowd cheered, clapped and sang along, and were completely immersed in the lively performance for the entire set. Before Wild Child even left the stage after their closing song, the crowd was begging for more. After what may have been the shortest break offstage, Wilson and Beggins returned on stage and began playing the encore. One by one, the rest of the band joined them on stage. Having to bring things to an end, Wild Child closed out the night performing “The Runaround.”

Opening the show was singer-songwriter James Tillman playing a brief set in support of his debut EP Shangri La (2014). As he serenaded the crowd, the emotions behind his soulful songs clearly came through. Mid-way through his set, he changed things up a bit and played an emotional solo acoustic cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games”

Following was Brooklyn folk pop trio Pearl and the Beard. Once they took the stage, the crowd was immediately excited. Clearly, there were many fans who came to see Pearl and the Beard along with Wild Child. Their music beautifully featured three part vocal harmonies accompanied by cello, guitar, ukelele and percussion. The band played a mix of high energy tunes interspersed with a few quiet and delicate songs. Pearl and the Beard is currently finishing their third full-length album.

Check out photos from the show in the gallery below.