Gig Review: Wild Youth

After months of staying in contact ‘Through the Phone’ and via the Wild Youth Facebook group, we finally got to ‘Lose Control’ at our first Wild Youth gig (since December 2019) on Friday the 17th of September. The venue? The Set Theatre, Kilkenny. The company? A reunion with old and new friends as we spent the evening getting lost in the music. For anyone who is an avid reader of Our Muchness Guide, you will know exactly who Wild Youth are as they are one of the bands we have seen a lot throughout the years. We had to stick to tradition and of course they were one of our first gigs of the year!

The stage exploded into action from the very first song with fan favourite ‘Weekend Rockstars’ which set the scene for the remainder of the night. Although it may not be our favourite Wild Youth song here at Our Muchness Guide, there is no denying that it has catchy lyrics and acts as a high energy warm up for front man David Whelan. But, in my opinion, the song that truly got everyone up on their feet dancing along was the third song of the night ‘Lose Control’ as fans old and new jumped to their feet to dance along to this one. I would like to own up here that we were part of the chorus of ‘’Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, heeeyyy’’ during the second verse; it’s tradition at this point and isn’t a proper performance of ‘Lose Control’ without it! The next song to highlight from the set is an unreleased song which has become an anthem for a few fans which we hope gets released someday called ‘Superficial Love’. This is also the song that you can pinpoint the avid Wild Youth gig goers. They’ll welcome you with open arms if you dance along to this one. 

The emotional moment of the night definitely happened during ‘Through the Phone’. This one has personally made me tear up since 2019 but, during this performance, it was truly special. Conor O’ Donohoe asked the crowd to video call someone who wasn’t at the gig who would love to hear this through the phone. For me, personally, it was my friend Soph from the UK who I’ll be flying over next March to see Wild Youth with and a number of the girls. As for Conor, he quickly had a collection of phones on his keyboard for the song as he performed to those on the other side of the phone. 

The band spoiled the crowd with their latest song ‘Summer’. When it comes to brand new songs from Wild Youth, I can honestly say I am now terrified to admit how much I actually like a song as my favourites never get released or stay on the set list for too long. With all, I can say on this one, I need another listen but it is catchy, and I enjoyed hearing it for the first time. 

Finally, I need to highlight the contrast between the last three songs of the set. ‘Can’t Say No’ into ‘All or Nothing’ and ‘Can’t Move On’. These are arguably Wild Youth’s most memorable singles which dominated our airwaves and TV during the past year. Although two match up and one is the complete opposite, they work well together and I look forward to hearing all three of these finishing the set of all gigs to come on tour this year if they keep the songs in this order.

The one regret I have for this gig is that after over a year and nine months of no in person Wild Youth gigs, I was looking forward to hearing ‘Long Time No See‘ and more than likely shedding a tear or two. But, regrettably, it wasn’t to be. Overall, throughout the night the highlights have to be the fan interactions with the band. From dancing along to every song, the changing of lyrics that were obviously inside jokes between the fans and the band to personal touches we won’t forget this gig in a hurry!