On Sept. 1, swarms of mosquitoes and flocks of gingham-clad indieheads made their way to the secluded Pines Theater at Look Park to see the recently resurrected Rilo Kiley. A 2000s time capsule wrapped in four studio albums, it was the band’s first show in Massachusetts in over 15 years — and their debut performance in Northampton.
With fall approaching and Five College students beginning to trickle slowly back to the Pioneer Valley, one last summer hurrah in the warm, lush outdoors felt entirely appropriate. The sun hung low over Natalie Bergman’s opening set, easing the crowd into the evening with her dulcet tones and steady backing band. Bergman, formerly of Wild Belle, joined Rilo Kiley for their tour in late August, performing tracks from her 2025 album “My Home Is Not In This World.”
Rilo Kiley took the stage around 8:15 p.m., the trees beginning to glow behind a rippling blockade of lights. The band is spearheaded by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jenny Lewis, who has maintained a successful solo career alongside her time with the band The Postal Service. Co-songwriter and lead guitarist Blake Sennett took the stage next to Lewis, followed by bassist Pierre de Reeder and drummer Jason Boesel. They were joined that night by rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Harrison Whitford, the only member onstage not from their original lineup.
The band formed in Los Angeles in 1998, Lewis and Sennett both boasting careers as former child actors, and disbanded in 2010 despite their spate of success. Some of their most popular hits include “Portions for Foxes” (potentially recognizable as that one song that was used in four separate seasons of “Grey’s Anatomy”) as well as “Silver Lining” and “The Frug.”
In an interview with Consequence in 2011, Sennett did not appear to have any hope nor interest in a reunion. He said, “I would say that if Rilo Kiley were a human being … He’s probably laying on his back in a morgue with a tag on his toe. Now, I see movies where the dead get up and walk. And when they do that, rarely do good things happen.”
On the contrary, good things did happen at the Pines Theater. The quintet hit the ground running with “The Execution of All Things,” charged by a tenacious bassline and energetic drums. During “The Moneymaker” Lewis took over bass responsibilities. Clad in a leopard print mini-dress, patent Mary Janes and a silver tiara, she resembled a sort of alternative prom queen of yesteryear.
Each member of the band bopped from instrument to instrument throughout the night. Sennett held down the fort on guitar and stepped in for silvery vocals on “Dreamworld” and “Ripchord,” his voice reminiscent of The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas.
“It’s been 17 years since May since we’ve played these songs,” Lewis said at one point mid-set. “Thank you for allowing us to do this.”
The thousand-person crowd — most standing, some splayed out on picnic blankets and camping chairs — hung on to their every word, singing along to “It’s a Hit” and “With Arms Outstretched.” Nostalgic and twee-ish, the catharsis was palpable, their music serving as a pressure valve from the daily onslaught of bad news.
Some have attributed the return of “recession pop” (i.e. hit pop songs from 2008 to 2012) as a way to cope with the current political and economic slide. Though the majority of Rilo Kiley’s career was pre-2008, there may be something to be said about an apparent resurgence of recession indie-pop. But instead of Lady Gaga’s prescription to “just dance, spin that record babe,” Rilo Kiley urges a different sort of determination.
During “A Better Son/Daughter,” one of the more stripped-back, earnest songs off their third album, Lewis sings about her own struggles with mental health — and the ability to overcome:
“Your ship may be coming in / You’re weak, but not giving in / To the cries and the wails of the valley below… And you’ll fight it, you’ll go out fighting all of them.”
“This is the hivemind,” said Sennett towards the end of the show. “We’re a cult and you’re all part of it. It started in 2003, or maybe in 1999.”
