Free at Noon Flashback: Darlingside saves the day and woos the crowd with a stunning performance

Darlingside | photo by Tiana Timmerberg for WXPN

No matter how profusely Darlingside refuses to accept that their playing a show today was a huge favor to us, don’t believe a word they say. WXPN is thankful to the Cambridge-based band for playing our Free at Noon show on such short notice after Adia Victoria got sick and was forced to back out of the show.

The four man indie-folk outfit charmed over the summer at XPN Fest and did so again today at World Cafe Live. Their set gave the audience a taste of the autumn air that we’ve been missing (especially on 70 degree days like today) with their warm performance, their grassroots brand of folk music, and nostalgia-inducing lyrics like “Apple cider signs” from their song “White Horses” — which was inspired by an apple orchard that one of the band members used to go to as a child. An unexpected cover of the Smashing Pumpkins hit “1979” also went over remarkably well.

Darlingside remains a standout in the indie-folk scene that is so diluted by an influx of groups that reside in the same genre and all sound the same. Every song in their set was carried by flawless harmonies that each band member contributed to while gathered around a single microphone. Their set featured just about every string instrument you can think of from mandolin to violin and acoustic to electric guitar. The group wooed the audience with their banter detailing the nicknames of each member of the band and their frequent interjections between songs to poke fun at themselves.

The boys promoted their new EP Whippoorwill by performing some of the new tracks and they included the new version of “Blow the House Down” which was originally released in 2012 on their album Pilot Machines. The version featured on Whippoorwill was, remastered to feature their signature harmonies and slightly different instrumental arrangements, and it’s great. Darlingside is currently touring with Chicago-based duo Frances Luke Accord who they invited on stage midway through their set to play a few songs together. If you didn’t catch the boys today at World Cafe, never fear- they are playing tonight at Ardmore Music Hall. For more information and tickets go to the WXPN Concert Calendar.

Setlist
The God of Loss
White Horses
1979
My Love
My Gal, My Guy
Whippoorwill
Blow the House Down
Go Back

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