Wild Rivers brings harmonious vocals to The Fillmore

Maddie Alsterlind and Kelsey Riemer|October 6, 2022

Fans cheer and laugh as Wild Rivers walks on the Fillmore stage at the beginning of their set.

On Thursday, Sept. 22, Wild Rivers graced The Fillmore in San Francisco with love, laughter, and music that can only be described as stunning. The Indie-Folk band, along with their opening act Violet Skies, played to an audience full of swaying fans, basking in the dreamy lighting of the performances that occupied the evening.

Wild Rivers is a Canadian band known for its calming acoustic music and angelic vocals. Founded by Devan Glover and Khalid Yassein while attending Queens University, Wild Rivers released their first album in 2016. In Feb. of 2022, Wild Rivers released their second album, Sidelines, which the band is now touring.

(Left to right) Andrew Oliver, Khalid Yassein, and Devan Glover play to an ecstatic audience. (Kelsey Riemer)

Violet Skies started off the night playing songs from her debut album, If I Saw You Again (2022), and making witty jokes that captivated the audience.

“Guys this is my last song,” Skies said, receiving boos from the crowd eager for more. “Ok, that was a test. You guys passed.”

After Violet’s set, audience members – ranging from families to couples – waited anxiously for Wild Rivers to begin their performance. The lights were dim and smoke billowed from the wings as the band took the stage. The band opened with “Bedrock,” featured in their album Sidelines, which was closely followed by fan favorite songs such as “Amsterdam.”

“Amsterdam” was written by the band as a revenge song for lead singer Devan Glover’s cousin, who’s long distance boyfriend broke up with her over the phone a week before the pair were set to move to Amsterdam together.

“If anybody in here is thinking about f*****g with one of our cousins, we’ll end you… in the form of indie-folk… music,” said singer and guitarist Khalid Yassein.

As the night progressed, Wild Rivers’ performance enthralled the audience, receiving smiles and passionate sing-alongs from the crowd. Attendees swayed as one uniform body, basking in the feeling of comfort that Wild Rivers brought into The Fillmore.

“I’d like to think that this [was] the first time that you guys confessed your love to each other and we just made that all happen,” Glover said between romantic songs that had the audience connecting with each other in the spirit of love and music.

Wild Rivers filled the gaps between songs with heartfelt stories about their lives and inspirations for songs, as well as fun facts about starting their band. Khalid Yassein told the audience about how they “started the band doing [shows at] like coffee houses and bar gigs.”

The band talked to the audience as if they were family and truly made everyone feel welcome. The sense of community was overwhelming and people of all ages were enjoying themselves, with kids as young as nine singing along to every song.

After the band left the stage towards the end of the concert, the audience responded by booing, demanding an encore. After a standing ovation and several minutes of cheering from the audience, the band returned and played three more songs. For the last song of the night, Wild Rivers welcomed Violet Skies back onto stage to sing one of their most popular songs, “Thinking ‘bout love.”

Wild Rivers brought a wonderful show to San Francisco, with unbeatable harmonies and guitar riffs and drum beats that made the show feel like a rock concert. However, they still maintained the calming, indie-folk vibe that is the hallmark of their music.