The Mowgli’s Drop Kids in Love at the Paradise Rock Club

Stephanie Richards ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Celebrating their Kids In Love album release, The Mowgli’s gave Boston a rousing show at the Paradise Rock Club. The seven-piece shared the stage with Hippo Campus and Night Riots, who set the pace of the evening.

The Mowgli’s opened up their set with the eponymous track “Kids In Love:” This fourth full length album has been a long time coming and was written while the band was on tour these past couple of years.

A set of familiar jams off their previous album, Waiting for the Dawn, followed this introduction: “Emily,” “The Great Divide,” and “Love Is Easy.” Every song had the audience belting along to the chorus and clapping to the beat.

Tuesday’s show marked the release of Kids In Love earlier that day: without hiding his excitement, vocalist and guitarist Colin Dieden announced, “There’s no other f*cking city I’d rather be in tonight!”

Fans chanted along to early releases “Bad Dream” and “I’m Good,” and though marginally quieter when introduced to newer songs “Sunlight” and “Love Me Anyways”—a “true song about Colin,” as prefaced by guitarist/vocalist Josh Hogan—the audience quickly caught onto The Mowgli’s’ oh-whoa-ohs and anthemic style and rocked out, keeping the vibes high.

About halfway through the show, vocalist Katie Earl took a moment to direct the audience’s attention to volunteer-based suicide prevention program Yellow Ribbon. The Mowgli’s are all about spreading the love and making the world a happier and better place to be in, and encourage their fans to do the same.

In the second half of the show, the band slowed the tempo a bit with “Make It Right,” but threw a twist at the end of it when the song morphed into 4 Non-Blonde’s “What’s Up,” then Bruno Mars’ “Marry You.” The Mowgli’s are a band that knows how to have fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. In the midst of “Clean Light,” Colin called for audience members to, “whatever it is you’re holding onto, just shake it off.” He jumped into the crowd and snapped a few selfies for his fans—it was a concert that no person left unsmiling.

The set ended with favourite “San Francisco,” the band featuring Billy Kottage of Reel Big Fish on trombone and inviting guitarist Nathan “Stitches” Stoker of Hippo Campus to jam out. Of course, The Mowgli’s were called back on stage for an encore—the first track of the new album, “You’re Not Alone,” and “Leave It Up To Me.”

In breathless banter with the audience, Colin admitted, “I fall in love way too fast,” after which an audience member immediately called out, “I love you!”

Colin: “I love you, too.”

After the show, The Mowgli’s and their two openers, Hippo Campus and Night Riots, hung around to talk with fans and trade smiles. The great thing about these guys is that they’re so relatable. Sometimes we forget that our favourite artists are people, too, and it’s super easy to establish a human connection with the Mowgli’s through both their music and most definitely in person. Ten out of ten; would recommend.

Missed their show? They’ll be on their Kids in Love Tour until June, and check ‘em out the next time they’re in town!