The doors to Midland Theatre opened at 6:30 p.m. last night, letting in a flood of predominantly teenagers ready to feel the love with The Mowgli’s. Roughly 30 minutes later, K. Flay bounced out from behind stage and provided indie music with rap influences and creative dance moves. Although it was initially difficult to see why she opened for The Mowgli’s, she had a fun energy that feels similar to them, despite the differences in their sounds. Overall, she put on a good show and I’m glad her set time wasn’t ridiculously long, because I was there to see The Mowgli’s and I didn’t have to wait long for them.

The band came on stage in a surprisingly nonchalant manner. They were camouflaged with the fog and instruments coming on stage, and they didn’t leave much before starting with “Say It, Just Say It.” There was so much life in the room with everyone singing along and recovering from the excitement of the set’s sudden beginning.

I went to the Mowgli’s “Kids in Love” tour in April and they played a lot of the same songs at the show last night, adding a nostalgic feel. A majority of the songs were from that album, but they also played popular songs from “Waiting for the Dawn,” including my personal favorite, “Love is Easy.” It’s one of their best songs to hear live because it embodies The Mowgli’s message of love and how great it can and should be. It’s so easy to get lost in the song’s lyrics during shows and if you let it, it can impact your life so much to soak in those words just for a few minutes.

The Mowgli’s songs are already moving, but listening to them in the live concert setting is indescribable.

The show ended with, of course, “San Francisco,” and it was phenomenal. This song was definitely the most spirited one, because everyone had been waiting for it and it is one of the songs that typically draws in new fans.The lights were wild and you could tell the band was having a lot of fun with it – singer Colin Dieden even jumped in the crowd.

A performance by Lights followed The Mowgli’s but I didn’t stay for most of it. It was a completely different crowd from The Mowgli’s and didn’t have the same easy-going vibe. The songs I heard were good, but I missed the connection between The Mowgli’s and her set.

The show as a whole was amazing, but not the most impactful in comparison to the other times I have seen them. I don’t think there will ever be such thing as a bad Mowgli’s concert and I recommend that anyone who wants to see them should, especially since they tour in this area so frequently.

 Watch for the December issue of The Express to read a feature on The Mowgli’s lead singer and former BVNW student Colin Dieden.