Wilderado And Flyte Bring Indie Magic to DC
The Historic Howard Theatre Is In For A Real Treat
I arrive at the Howard Theatre on a blazing hot Tuesday evening and get in the doors without issue. I’m here to see Wilderado, and their supporting act, Flyte. Two bands that admittedly aren’t on my radar, but as a fan of indie music in general, I made the trek out to DC to see what all the fuss is about.
I make a pit stop at the restroom before I head to the photo pit area, and I’m delighted to see that the venue has an oversized plastic bubble toy machine down by the bathrooms. It accepts a credit card (woah!) and dispenses keychains and pins and such branded with the venue’s name. Very cool. I grabbed two and ended up with an enamel pin and an iridescent hotel key-style keychain.
The Howard is a small but stunning venue, this is my first time here and I’m taken aback by how delightful it is, super clean, and beautifully decorated and the staff is pleasant and helpful.
I stand near the barrier and watch the room fill with men and women ranging from 18 to late twenties, maybe early to mid-thirties. There’s plenty of chatter as I slip out of the general crowd and over to the photo pit. I plop down on one of the barrier steps and begin to prepare my camera.
Wilderado’s Max surprisingly takes the stage right at the top of the show to ask the crowd to please take in the storytelling that the openers, Flyte, have to offer. He says they are Wilderado’s very favorite band (they’re from across the pond) and it’s such a treat that they get to bring them along for the tour. He thanks the crowd and introduces Flyte, then departs the stage.
FLyTEEEEEEEEEEEEEE here
I later saw why he does this, a fellow photographer had told me that people had been chatting during the opener’s set in other cities. DC didn’t do this at first, but the chatter picked up eventually. I couldn’t imagine doing this during an artist’s set, known to me or not. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same mindset.
Will, the lead vocalist of Flyte, mentions how polite everyone is in DC and says he almost wishes someone would be rude to them, which prompts a laugh from the crowd, and someone brave crows “F*CK YOU!” which gets a good chuckle from the band as they head into their next song.
Flyte is so chill, this is the kind of music you put on when you’re in a little back road drive, or laying in a hammock. They start a song with a hoppy keyboard tune, it’s titled “I’ve Got A Girl”.
“I was your biggest fan, now I want my money back”
HEARD THAT. Flyte says they play a different setlist every night to keep themselves on their toes. If this is true, wow. I’m sure that keeps them on their toes.
“Maybe you’re right, we’re holding on too tight” the band sings, and I’m drawn right in. This song is very dreamy and reminds me a bit of The Beatles. It picked up pretty quickly, tumbling into a bouncy dance tune. This one sounds familiar, I listened to this song on the way to the show, it’s called “Cathy Come Home”.
As Flyte’s set is nearing the end, Will stops to ask the audience if they’ve watched the UK version of the reality show, Love Island. He goes on a tangent about a song he penned for his grandad’s funeral. He shares that Love Island has played the song many times during the most inappropriate scenes, and gives an awkward chuckle.
He shrugs and tells us to choose grandfather or Love Island, whichever we choose to associate the song with is fine with him. The song is called “White Roses”, and wow. I think it’s my favorite song from their set. It’s the perfect tempo and the lyrics are so descriptive and beautiful. When the song ends, Flyte tells us that they’ll be at the merch booth after their set if anyone would like to come say hi. However, they have only 4 copies of their newest record left for sale, that’s a good thing, right? This band gets an A+ for me.
There are only about ten minutes between sets and they fly by. Before I know it, Wilderado takes the stage. They play their first three songs in pretty dim light. Visually it’s appealing and certainly lends a hand to the mounting energy of their set. From a photography standpoint, this is kind of a bummer. Luckily during their second song, there’s a subtle red and blue lighting that reminds me of a 3D movie. Their backdrop is a huge photo of their latest album cover, the album is titled ‘Talker’. The imagery is various shapes of different colors. It’s sort of Picasso-esque.
3 out of 4 of the band members are wearing trousers and a button-up shirt, the drummer is in what looks like a comfy jersey and some distressed jeans. Wilderado has a bunch of rectangle lights that dim and brighten as they play their music, changing with the beat. The crowd is kind of swaying and somewhat low energy, but not in a bad way. Wilderado isn’t one of those thrash-around and mosh bands. They’re more easy going so I feel swaying with some head nodding is more appropriate anyway.
Their rhythm guitarist has a keyboard to his right that he uses his free hand on from time to time. I’m impressed by this and my eyes shoot straight over to him whenever it happens.
“Sometimes” is my favorite track they play so far. Like I said, these bands weren’t previously on my radar but I did make a playlist to jam to on the drive to the venue to dip my toes in.
During the more upbeat jams of Wilderado’s set, like “Outside Of My Head” and “Mr. Major” the front couple rows of the crowd are dancing pretty wildly and even banging their heads.
During a break between songs, Wilderado announces they’re putting out their second record on September 20th and they thank the crowd for waiting 3 years for it.
“It was a pleasure to make, I don’t think I’ve ever had to work so hard in my life on anything as I did writing words on these songs”, says frontman Max.
He also compliments the energy in the room and asks how we are, and without pausing says, “Well anyways, this song is called Talker”. This song is named after the title of their most recent album, it’s a mid-paced jam with some soft and lovely “ah” ing during instrumental breaks. I enjoyed this one.
Next they play “In Between”, a slow-paced tune that sounds like something you’d hear in an indie movie. This one might be my new favorite. It’s gentle and groovy at the same time, a real foottapper. The band sings the line “somewhere in between ” and it’s followed by harmonizing and some twangy guitar.
Towards the end of their set, all of the band except Max depart the stage for a few acoustic songs. There’s a soft spotlight on him and he strums. I let this part of the set take me away. If you’ve ever read any of my pieces, you know I’m a sucker for acoustic stuff.
“I ain’t been happy since I left you, I’ve been traveling around like I said I would but it ain’t right, girl if it ain’t you”
Out of the few acoustic songs played, this one is my favorite. I even really am keen on the title, it’s called “Talking About Love To A Cigarette”.
The full band returns to the stage and Max has an announcement to make. Wilderado is tired of pretending the show is over and standing behind the curtain for a few minutes for an encore, so they straight up tell the audience this is the encore and tell us there are two more songs left.
“Surefire” is the song before the last, and the band stops singing for a few lines for this one. Not to worry, the audience sings it for them. Every. Single. Word.
“Oh my, oh my. Surefire yeah, the setting sun gonna set on me”. I love when this happens, it creates such a feeling of warmth and unity in the venue when we all come together to sing along.
Before the night comes to a close, Matt says this last one is about “knocking up his wife”, and it’s called “Rubble to Rubble”. This one is viral on TikTok, my concert buddy Cheyenne tells me. The crowd claps along as the rest of the band retires from their instruments and joins Matt up by the mic. They take turns singing parts of the song, at times all together. Again, the crowd comes together and the entire venue in unison sings along for this one. I catch myself smiling through the whole damn song. Seeing Flyte and Wilderado knock it out of the park tonight made me realize I need to get out to see more indie shows.
Want to keep up with these bands? Check them out on socials
See the Full Gallery of the Night Here!
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Wilderado is still on tour around the United States! Check the dates below to catch them in your town!
JUL 19 FRI
JUL 20 SAT
Minnesota Yacht Club Festival 2024 @ 1:00pm
Saint Paul Park, MN, United States
JUL 21 SUN
JUL 23 TUE
Codfish Hollow Barnstormers @ 7:00pm
JUL 24 WED
JUL 26 FRI
JUL 27 SAT
JUL 28 SUN
JUL 30 TUE
Grand Rapids, MI, United States
JUL 31 WED
AUG 2 FRI
Lollapalooza Chicago 2024 @ 11:00am
AUG 3 SAT
Official Lollapalooza Aftershow @ 10:00pm
SEP 13 FRI
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion 2024 @ 7:00pm
SEP 14 SAT
Borderland Music Festival 2024 @ 4:00pm
East Aurora, NY, United States
OCT 1 TUE
Kansas City, MO, United States
OCT 3 THU
OCT 5 SAT
The Commonwealth Room @ 7:00pm
South Salt Lake, UT, United States
OCT 7 MON
OCT 8 TUE
OCT 9 WED
OCT 11 FRI
San Francisco, CA, United States
OCT 12 SAT
Los Angeles, CA, United States
OCT 13 SUN
Solana Beach, CA, United States
OCT 15 TUE
OCT 17 THU
OCT 26 SAT
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