Line-up

Headliner
Wild Nothing Last time in Baltimore: 12 years ago

Venue

Ottobar

2549 North Howard Street, 21218, Baltimore, MD, US

www.theottobar.com

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Additional details

Doors open: 19:00

Concert in your area for Rock, Indie & Alt, Pop, and Electronic.

Find out more about Rock, Pop, and Electronic.

Wild Nothing biography

Wild Nothing (formed in 2009) is the indie-rock, synth-infused dream pop project of former Jack and the Whale member John Tatum, who rose to blogosphere esteem in 2010 with his debut album “Gemini”, hailing from Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.

John Alexander Tatum a.k.a. Jack Tatum had been slowly raising his profile during his teenage years as a musician in the bands Jack and the Whale and FACEPAINT, in his hometown of Blacksburg. In the summer of 2009 however, Tatum began writing and recording breezy, laid back summer soundtracks under the moniker Wild Nothing. Alongside the likes of Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Beach Fossils, who were also gaining attention for their similar musical output, Tatum’s profile was first raised when his cover of Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting” started making waves in indie circles.

The success of the cover and subsequent tracks led Wild Nothing to sign with Captured Tracks and began touring with the musicians Jeff Haley (bass), Nathan Goodman (guitar), and Max Brooks (drums). Ahead of their debut album, the band issued the single “Summer Holiday” in 2009, followed shortly afterwards by “Cloudbusting”. The following year in May, Wild Nothing issued their debut studio album “Gemini” to a wave of critical acclaim, including a feature on Pitchforks’ Best Albums of 2010. Whilst failing to make inroads into the charts, the record endeared Tatum to the hearts of indie-music lovers the world over, and raised anticipation for future releases.

Briding the gap between another full-length release, Tatum et al. issued the EP “Golden Haze”, complete with percussive bells, clean guitars and laboured, love-inflected lyrics. Featuring Nicolas Vernhes on production duties, Wild Nothing’s sophomore full-length “Nocturne” arrived in 2012. Record at Rare Book Room Studios, the record was an extension of previous work with added skills, experience and maturity, and topped the U.S. Heatseekers Chart. Marked by Tatum’s most experimental and genre-defying work to date, he released the EP “Empty Estate” in 2013.

Live reviews

Wild Nothing are a fairly new band, having only been around since around 2009. Mastermind Jack Tatum writes all the music himself, and got friends Nathan Goodman, Jeff Haley, Kevin Knight, and Jeremiah Johnson on guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums, respectively, to play with him.

Wild Nothing's music is reminiscent of artists featured on the 1986 compilation C86 released by NME. However, Wild Nothing stand on their own. They have a sound that is completely unique to them, combining elements of post-punk, dream pop, and shoegaze. This band is definitely amazing in their own way.

This becomes even more evident during a live event. In an outdoor venue during the daytime, the crowd gathers a while before the band even shows up, just chatting amongst themselves as they wait patiently. When the band does show up, Jack simply greets them with a hello and says "We're Wild Nothing" as they begin to play the first song of their set. The band cheers as they begin to play. The communication with the audience is also kept to a minimum.

Jack sometimes asks the crowd how their doing, but otherwise he lets the music speak for itself. The audience simply watches on as the band play their music. The entire atmosphere is completely laid-back, which is to be expected, since this sort of music is perfect for having a relaxing time.

Anonymous