By Brady Lavin
The Mowgli’s at Lollapalooza 2013
Photo by Faraz Chaudry
I walked up to the Mowgli’s set at Lollapalooza 2013 in a normal mood, not knowing who the heck they were. A friend told me to check them out, so I decided I’d give ‘em a shot. By the time the Mowgli’s were done with me, I was giddy, practically skipping to the next act on my schedule.
The Mowgli’s have an unendingly positive energy that will turn the most rigid scowling curmudgeon into a wide-eyed child again. For example, about halfway into their sunny, raucous set, they stopped and invited everyone to break the world record for biggest group hug, without knowing what the previous record was or how many people were in the crowd. It doesn’t matter if a record was broken, it just matters that people put their arms around the random folks near them and got into the spirit of the Mowgli’s. And that spirit is something that is usually lacking at Lollapalooza.
The Mowgli’s sound is like an even California-er version of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, complete with the crowded stage and female co-lead vocals, but they really do have their own thing going on. Somehow managing to be folksy, poppy and rootsy all at the same time, the Mowgli’s are a boatload (a beachful?) of fun, and if the overflowing crowd at the BMI Stage at Lollapalooza 2013 is any indication, we’re gonna see a lot more of these guys (and gal) in the coming years.
