REVIEW: THE WILD HEARTS TOUR @ SUMMERSTAGE CENTRAL PARK 8/21
By: Olivia Pepe
On the evening of August 21st, The Wild Hearts tour, consisting of artists Angel Olsen, Julien Baker, Sharon Van Etten, and opener Quinn Christophersen, played their last show of the tour at Summerstage in Central Park in New York City. The show was the end of their summer tour which spanned two months and twenty different cities. Each artist had their own distinctive individual set that culminated with the final song performed by all three women. The night was full of emotion and nostalgia as they performed their sets for one last time and reflected on the course of the tour.
Summerstage in Central Park was an idyllic venue for this tour. The stage is surrounded by trees and the artist’s bands were accompanied by the sounds of a summer night: rustling leaves, cicadas, and chirping birds.
The opening act, Quinn Christophersen played his act as the crowd started filing in and the sun started setting. He started the first song alone on stage and then he was accompanied by his guitarist for the rest of the set. His stripped down acoustic sound was a mellow beginning to three sets following with fuller dynamic sounds.
Julien Baker’s set was first. Baker, known for her intense and gritty lyrics, brought all of her emotion out on stage with her. She mostly played songs from her most recent LP “Little Oblivions” which was released in February of 2021 but played some songs from her EP such as “Sprained Ankle” and “Everybody Does”. In the middle of her set she reminded the audience to stay hydrated in the late August heat, standing at only 5 feet tall, her soft spoken demeanor strongly contrasted the power she possessed while playing. In the last song of her set both Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten’s band joined Julien Baker on stage for a dance party to commemorate their last show.
The sun had fully set but the stage was saturated in a sea of pink light as Angel Olsen and her band appeared on stage. Angel Olsen was accompanied by a full band including a cellist and a violinist. The strength in Angel Olsen’s set lay in her ease and comfortability on stage. She joked that she was going to play a song which she wrote last night that she believed was really going to be a hit and proceeded to play her most famous song “Shut Up, Kiss Me” In between songs she choked up talking about how much she was going to miss the tour and her emotion shone through her voice as she sang. Just like the end of Julien Baker’s set, Angel Olsen was joined on stage by the other performer’s bands and crews for a dance party during the last song she played.
After two full sets of performances, the crowd started thinning out and the concertgoers seemed to be getting antsy. But as soon as Sharon Van Etten appeared on stage, donning a long sleeve sparkly top that acted as a mirrorball reflecting all light, the crowd was roaring and all attention was on her. Sharon Van Etten started off her set by playing some of her newer songs from her album “We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong” which was released in May of 2022. This show was significant for Van Etten for a number of reasons- as an NYC native, this was her hometown show and she had many old friends and classmates in the audience.
Van Etten is a powerful performer and I believe was strategically placed at the end of the lineup to end the night with high energy. For the last song Van Etten was joined by Angel Olsen and Julien Baker to perform her and Olsen’s single “Like I Used To”. It was an emotional ending to an amazing evening and tour. All three women possess massive emotive power within their lyrics and music. As an end of summer concert the music provoked self reflection and nostalgia. It was an incredible privilege to be able to experience these three artists’ music all in one night.