The Wilderness

Psychedelic rock quintet The Wilderness is set to hit the Philadelphia scene for the first time this Thursday, July 23 with their show at Legendary Dobbs. The band from Orlando, Florida consists of Eliseo Gregory (vocals, keys, guitar), Ryan Monks (guitar), Nick Lucas (bass) and Jonathan Woodward (drums/percussion). Lucas talked to That Mag recently to help Philadelphia get to know The Wilderness.

Their EP, Natural Wonders, was released this past January and now the band is hitting the road for an east coast tour. Tonight and tomorrow sees The Wilderness in New York City, followed by Philadelphia, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and then back home for shows in Florida. Lucas explains that the group had a humble beginning as Eliseo Gregory’s solo project based out of Dallas, Texas. Once Gregory transplanted the project to Orlando, he met Jonathan Woodward to form a more dynamic sound. The group was finally complete in August of 2014 when guitarist Monks and Lucas joined band.

With many similar sounding bands such as Tame Impala, The Black Angels and The Flaming Lips growing in popularity, I ask Lucas what draws his band to this genre. For him, The Wilderness didn’t set out for a genre in particular, it came naturally and they are continuing to expanding it.

“We listen to a lot of Bob Dylan, Creedence ClearwaterRevival, The Beatles and tons of other greats. Everything coming from the [record label] Captured Tracks right now is great, but The War on Drugs has been putting out some awesome music too.”

As for the upcoming show at Legendary Dobbs, The Wilderness will be performing along with Cookie Rabinowitz, The Absolute Sky, Morse Coda, and The Local Smokes. Lucas says, “It is our first show in Philadelphia, but with the awesome fans and talented locals we expect it to be a great show.”

The Wilderness fans should be prepared to hear some new music along with tracks off of Natural Wonders. A full length LP and west coast tour are currently in the works for this winter. - Shannon Fox

The Wilderness (Facebook | Website) may have been trying to burn down the Social last night, both figuratively and literally. Burning incense from seemingly every amp in the room, the four-piece alt-band from Orlando took the best of three performances, opening for Adam and the Plastic (SoundCloud). New to the Orlando music scene, the Wilderness served me an excellent introduction.

The young band will be hitting the road for their first tour on July 15 – a fifteen-day tour up and down the east coast, stopping in major cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Durham, NC. For an upcoming band the Wilderness exuded an incredible amount of confidence. The band’s stage presence rivaled that of a much more experienced band, fully aware of their audience, and playing to strengths of their charming and funny selves. Had the lead singer, Elesio Gregory, not mentioned the band’s innocence I would have never picked up on it.

Sandwiched between the opening act, Jessica Vacha (Facebook), a soulful singer/songwriter, and Adam and the Plastic, the night’s headliner, the Wilderness effortlessly took command of the night. Amongst my favorite parts of the band’s set was watching bassist Nick Lucas control the audience during and between songs. Nick appeared completely in sync with the music, looking absolutely possessed by each song. Not to mention his excellent crowd work between songs, Nick seemed always ready with a joke, or something to rev the small crowd back up. The Wilderness’s night was almost cut short when guitar player Ryan Monks had to leave stage to answer natures call. Fortunately, drummer Jonathan Woodward induced an audience countdown to hurry Monks back to the stage.

Self-described as psychedelic or vibe-rock, the Wilderness seemed to capture the best qualities of bands like Catfish and the Bottlemen and American Football. The band performed songs off their first studio album, Natural Wonders. “Redrock,” the second song on the album, seemed to be a crowd favorite. - Frank Flanagan

Last night was a reminder that not all young shows are the same. Vastly different pictures emerge depending on whether you measure age or scene maturity. I’ve seen both experienced all ages crowds and incredibly juvenile 18+ crowds. My latest outing (July 15, Will’s Pub) was the boisterously awkward world of the latter, which was in turns refreshing and irritating. But the music, at least most of it, was good.


The Wilderness
To kick off their East Coast tour, Orlando headliner the Wilderness performed a solid set of their lush indie rock. Although awash in psych pastels, their sound has a hefty core of melody and sonic substance. It’s a combination of pretty melodies and big horizon that’s got mainstream potential, for what that’s worth. - Bao Le-Huu