Darlingside - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire (01/11/18)

Photo credit: Nick Bennett

• Line-up: Darlingside with special guests Wildwood Kin

• Date: 1st November, 2018

• Location: O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

• Review By: Gary Smith (LCM)

• Video credit: Martin Cox

With their biggest London headline gig to date, the excellent Boston based quartet Darlingside thrilled audiences with another superb performance. A frequent visitor the band have been very active in cultivating and growing their UK audience. In the last eighteen months they have headlined the Union Chapel and Courtyard Theatre, showcased at the AMA UK conference, as well as a UK tour and festival appearances.

The very talented Darlingside feature Don Mitchell (guitar, banjo, vocals), Auyon Mukharji (mandolin, violin, vocals), Harris Paseltiner (guitar, cello, vocals) and David Senft (bass, kick drum, vocals). These 'band of brothers' are all from very different musical backgrounds and performance styles including chamber music, choral singing, Celtic session playing and street busking. NPR described them as 'exquisitely-arranged, literary-minded, baroque folk-pop'. Simply put Darlingside’s music plays is thoughtful, cinematic and often deeply moving. There is a special and magical feeling about it. All the band are all highly skilled multi-instrumentalists with a super tight delivery in their playing and harmonies. They certainly have the 'wow!!' factor.

For this headline London gig they invited their special guests, the excellent up-and-coming West Country family trio Wildwood Kin. Darlingside had first met them when they shared the bill at Celtic Connections. Having two groups with great harmonies, songwriting and musicianship complemented wonderfully on the night.

Wildwood Kin opened with the powerful and atmospheric ‘Warrior Daughter’, full of tight harmonies and driving percussion. Also taken from from their debut album ‘Turning Tides’ was the beautiful ‘Run’, which was championed by BBC Radio 2 and received a lot of airplay, The band are currently working on their second album and are also set to a release a new covers four-track EP ‘Voice Of Equilibrium’ at the end of the month. It was exclusively on sale during their live dates. Their set included two songs taken from the new EP, wonderful versions of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Higher Ground’ and Robyn’s ‘Dream On’.

Including more tracks from their debut album, ‘On and On’ was a beautiful song themed about unconditional love. Wildwood Kin had recently been invited to perform at the ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ anniversary show. The song they played live on the show was ‘Steady My Heart’ and they showcased it once again..Wildwood Kin perfectly concluded their set with another powerful song the very catchy hit ‘Taking A Hold’.

After a short break the very impressive Darlingside took to the stage. Grouped around a condenser microphone they played tracks from their new album ‘Extralife’ as well as previous albums ‘Birds Say’ and Pilot Machines‘ and their EP ‘Whippoorwill’.

The set opened with the Simon & Garfunkel flavoured 'Singularity' giving the warm encouragement that individually we can difference. It begins and ends with a Septavox which gives it a 80's video game feel. With themes of pre-apocalyptic earth "Someday a shooting star is gonna shoot me down. Burn these high rises back into a ghost town of iridium-white clouds. Matted close against the ground. While the sky hangs empty as a frame!'. The word 'Eschaton' carries the idea of the period of time immediately preceding the end of the world' “No matter what we’ve been....We are the upshot now. Time, they all know the time and what we used to be. Signs, look at the signs. Tell me what you believe". The song suggests that we forget past nostalgia and focus on the present. Making the most of it while we still can, all the while trying to make a positive difference. The track has a very interesting blend of electronic music and underlying string arrangements.

With it's fuzzy guitar opening the wonderful 'Go Back' had shades of early Mumford and Sons. Brittle synthesizer-like sounds from Auyon’s mandolin seamlessly mesh with acoustic and 12- string Danelectro guitars for a great rock groove. The beautiful ‘White Horses’ is the band’s ode to Chicago. Sparse notes from banjo, acoustic guitar, violin and keys punctuate the solemn and beautiful song. Next the retro sounding 'My Girl, My Guy' had shades of CSNY and the Beach Boys. Named after the Scottish island, ‘Lindisfarne’ had a beautiful string arrangements and soaring Beach Boys choir-like celestial harmonies.

It was now time for the title track of their latest album ‘Extralife.’ It's introduction feels like being inside a 80's computer game, before launching into the band's trademark super rich harmonies. Examining current world events It begins with the phrase, 'It’s over now........The flag is sunk'. I love the lyrics in the second verse 'In the only game I ever played, I am the ageless one. Another hunted bird. An arcade word. A living machine love. There must be something i've lost sight of.....Extralife.' Just like a computer game do we have a second chance to reset....to gain that extra life? ‘The Ancestor’ is the opening track of the 'Bird's Say' album. With it's bowed cello and gentle mandolin playing, it reminded me of a gentle version of a Keston Cobblers Club track. It was time next for a rare cover with a great acapella rendition of Neil Young’s ‘Red Sun’. This was followed up by the always entertaining and clever ‘Harrison Ford’.. 

Written in Santa Fe, New Mexico 'Orion' looks towards the sky and stars for inspiration. Soft mandolin plucks accenting the song like the myriad stars in the heavens. "The paint is peeling off of a dream. Pool is draining into the sea. Tomorrow is beginning to take an equal and an opposite shape. Beach is just a line in the sand. The tide is in the palm of your hand. It's looking like a star over you. Either way the end is around the bend". I love the rich and atmospheric lyrics in the song.

Another beautifully written track is 'Hold Your Head Up High' with it's soft strummed acoustic guitar, accordion and added brass motifs "How it rambles 'round the moon. A let-go-of balloon. Nothing is forever, everything is soon. And my father as he stands A perfect cartoon man. Heavy-sighed and open-eyed, I heard him speak. See that humankind is you. Like all the rest, down to the scratches on the album that you're singing to.'  To close the main set they brought out one of their very popular older songs from their debut album ‘Pilot Machines’. The rocky, psychedelic and very catchy ‘Blow The House Down’.

With the sound of a very happy audience ringing in their eyes the band returned to the stage for the encore. Inviting the very talented Wildwood Kin back to the stage to join in on backing vocals, Darlingside performed a great version of the reflective ‘Best of The Best Of Times’.

They saved one of my favourite songs, the quite simply stunning ‘God Of Loss’ to close the evening. It was the first song I heard from the band on it’s release and it still hasn’t lost any of it’s magic.

The unique Darlingside create a wonderful slice of contemporary folk culture, with a huge helping of flair and panache. A musical 'band of brothers' all very talented in their own right, coming together to create a piece of magic and its’something that they all clearly enjoy immensely. Darlingside have found their signature and highly engrossing sound and the world is a much better and richer place for it.

With a new Darlingside UK tour promised in the autumn of 2019, we would highly recommend that you go along.