Read previous – Julien Baker @ Franklin Music Hall
The Wild Hearts Tour featuring Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, and Julien Baker (as well as opener Quinn Christopherson) hit the Skyline Stage at The Mann in Philly on Friday, August 19th. This was another one of my most highly anticipated shows of the summer, with a triple bill of headliner-worthy artists. While my last visit to the Skyline Stage was a debacle (due to the weather), Mother Nature was kind this time around. The sun was blazing, but a cool breeze was blowing on the plateau as Quinn Christopherson kicked things off. Christopherson started off his set solo on acoustic guitar with “Raedeen” before being joined by artist Gracie Gray who helped out on more upbeat tracks like “Celine“. With a 5:30 pm sharp start time, I’m glad I beat the Philly traffic and made it early to catch his performance.
The summer heat all but killed the Skyline Stage lawn and dirt swirled in the sunlight as the audience began to fill in for Julien Baker’s performance. The first time I caught Julien Baker live, she performed solo with a loop station. With her current full band lineup, she rocked hard as they played through a too short set of songs mostly from Baker’s latest album Little Oblivions. From Turn Out the Lights, she did perform “Shadowboxing”; however, there was no “Appointments”, “Turn Out the Lights”, or “Sour Breath” this time around. I was also hoping for “Hurt Less”, which is on my bucket list for seeing performed live.
The sun was still out as Angel Olsen performed her set, which was even shorter than Baker’s. Olsen seems to evolve and re-define herself with every album release – on her latest LP, Big Time, she dives her deepest yet into her country influences. Her set was mostly Big Time tracks and I was surprised she didn’t break out 2016 crowd-pleaser “Shut Up Kiss Me”. I knew there was a possibility for Sharon Van Etten to make a cameo for them to perform their joint single “Like I Used To”, but that didn’t happen (yet).
With family members and friends in the audience, it was practically a hometown show for Sharon Van Etten. Van Etten does have close ties to the area – she grew up in nearby Central Jersey and recorded her 2009 debut LP Because I Was in Love in Philly. Her 6th and latest studio LP, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, was just released earlier this year (stream below). It’s a follow-up to her fantastic 2019 comeback LP Remind Me Tomorrow, which I’ve continued to have on rotation since its release. It was finally dark when Van Etten’s set began. The sound of crickets and cicadas in the background added to the magical atmosphere of watching Van Etten and band perform under the stars. Their rendition of “Every Time the Sun Comes Up” from 2014’s Are We There sounded completely different from the recorded studio version – it was a more upbeat synth-y version with a bass line reminiscent of early New Order.
With their 20-something date tour wrapping up with back-to-back nights at Central Park SummerStage, Van Etten reflected on how much fun she had with her tourmates Olsen and Baker, as well as the 40-person touring party that made it all possible. She closed out her set with my favorite track “Seventeen”, a song that sounds and feels so quintessentially Jersey that it fills me with pride. She gave the people what they want and came back with a 2-song encore culminating with “Like I Used To” (music video below). Joined by Angel Olsen, their performance together on that song was the icing on the cake to end the night. Keep scrolling below to see more photos from the show.
