Wilderado wrapped up their brief Arkansas stand with a blistering set in front of a packed house at The Rev Room in Little Rock.
Virginia’s Illiterate Light opened the show with the kind of energy that is required when you’re a two-piece. The guitar and drums duo from the Shenandoah Valley pack a powerful and erratic sound that feels much larger than a duo should produce.
The band’s seven-song set was mostly composed from their two most recent albums – 2023’s Sunburned and 2024’s Arches. “Norfolk Southern” and “Payphone” were standouts, along with “Always Always” from 2023’s Aloe EP. When drummer Jake Cochran takes the microphone and says, “You should keep your job, I love the way you provide, I want to be a stay-at-home dad full time,” you can feel the love that he’s talking about.
Guitarist/vocalist Jeff Gorman did a lot of the heavy lifting musically, which is typically required in a two-piece. His ability to cover lots of space is a huge factor in the big sound the band is able to create.
The main attraction of the night, Tulsa’s Wilderado, took the stage at 9 PM to huge applause. The Oklahoma three-piece just started a run of headlining shows throughout the south (and Colorado) after supporting The Head and the Heart for the second half of the summer.Vocalist/guitarist Max Rainer mused about not thinking the band had ever played in Little Rock before, and there was some back and forth trying to figure it out with the crowd. In the end, Rainer stated, “It doesn’t matter, we’re at The Rev Room tonight.”
Though still touring on 2024’s Talker, the band opened with the first three tracks from their 2021 self-titled release, Wilderado – “Stranger,” “Astronaut,” and “Head Right.”
As the band settled into the middle part of the set, “Siren” and “Talker” were crowd favorites. It was hard to single out the big reactions from the audience due to the fact that everybody seemed to know every word to every song. Rainer broke out his acoustic guitar for the first time for “Sometimes,” and kept that vibe for most of the remainder of the set. Guitarist Tyler Wimpee switched to an old Harmony guitar for “Tomorrow” and laid down a droning and cutting guitar part that really set the tone for the whole song. The three-part harmony in the intro to “The Ocean And The Sea” really stood out, driving home just how much musical talent is in this band.
The person having the best time all night was a young girl in the front row clad in her “Wilderado Is An OK Band” shirt. She and her family got in extremely early and did not move from their spot front and center from the time Illiterate Light started.
As the set wound down, Rainer let the crowd know that “We don’t do encores, if you think we’re going to come back out, I promise you we are not.” The band then went on to close the night out with three monster songs. “Take Some Time” was followed by “Surefire,” which received the biggest pop of the night. Rainer made sure to walk away from the microphone and let the crowd sing the entire second chorus themselves. The night closed with “Rubble to Rubble” from 2017’s Latigo EP. Rainer’s acoustic guitar was the only instrument needed, with the rest of the band crowded around the microphone, providing background vocals.
If Wilderado had, in fact, not played in Little Rock before, this performance showed them there’s plenty of support for another trip in the near future. You can see Wilderado on tour throughout the south (and Colorado) until the middle of October.
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