Parcels with Mildlife enchant The Showbox

Going to the Showbox is always a stunning experience. There’s not a bad place to view the stage from, the crowd is generally in good spirits, even the security is especially kind and considerate (they handled my camera bag as though any amount of impact including placing it on the table would jeopardize my equipment). So, I was especially excited to catch Australian bands Mildlife and Parcels at Showbox at the Market in honor of Parcels’ second release, Day/Night.

Parcels have been on our radar for a while since their first eponymous release and the fact that they collaborated with the legendary Daft Punk on track “Overnight.” The band consisting of Louie Swain, Patrick Hetherington, Noah Hill, Anatole “Toto” Serret, and Jules Crommelin were going to put on a special show. We couldn’t wait to hear hits “Tieduprightnow,” “Lightenup,” “Gamesofluck,” and new tracks “Somethinggreater,” “Famous,” and “Theworstthing” live.

Mildlife kicked off the night with 30 minutes of songs from their albums, Automatic and Phase. The dance-y, psychedelic jazz band started promptly at 8:00 PM with synthy, funky, vaguely Tame Impala-reminiscent music. Though they have songs that are nearly nine minutes long (“Citations,” and title track “Automatic”), at no point did the crowd (or me) lose interest in their performance.

Parcels took the stage about a half hour after the conclusion of Mildlife’s set. I was initially stunned to see that they had a two-hour set list; however, since Day/Night, their most recent release, is a double album which sums just over an hour and a half of run time, their extended set time seemed to give the crowd exactly what they came out to see. I had never seen Parcels previously and didn’t have much knowledge about them prior to this show. Even with my extremely limited knowledge of the band, once they took the stage, one thing became abundantly clear: these people are great friends.

Upon stepping onto the stage, the quintet stood front and center to face the crowd and express their non-verbal gratitude via waves and blown kisses to their fans. They exchanged smiles with each other and their adoring audience and looked genuinely thrilled (if not a little surprised) to be met with such an enthusiastic fanbase. And that was before they even stepped up to their instruments. The rest of the night was filled with sweet harmonies, groovy tunes, and warmth across the venue.

Photos and words by Collene McCarter @collenemccarterphoto