It is always a joy to walk out of a show and think to yourself, man they were as great as they are on disc. An even greater feeling is midway through the second song you realize, man they are way better live than on disc. Music, in general, has a unique facet that can really only be described as magical in its purest and simplest form. It finds a way to transform us and the journey is half the fun. Monday night’s Kills show was all that and more.
The Kills are an indie rock/garage band formed by American singer Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jamie Hince. They played around with a few band names and finally decided to go with The Kills as it “sounded like a band that could exist in any decade." I agree that the name could probably do exactly that. The music, on the other hand, is very contemporary, with hints of the 70s, 90s, and of course the 00s. Since their inception in 2002, The Kills have put together a nice catalogue of five albums, their latest and tour sake, Ash & Ice, was released in June of this year. As expected, the set was mostly material from that album as well as material from their highly successful Midnight Broom album.
The crowd on hand was beyond eager to entertain the band and in turn, the band took that energy and fed it straight back to them. Stage banter was minimal at best, and when there was some, it tended to relay the band's joy at how amazing the city is. Mosshart as a lead singer and guitarist/drummer reminds me a lot of what a younger Grace Potter must have been like on stage. Hince is a power to be reckoned with and enjoys interacting with the audience whenever he can. One can’t deny the influence Jack White has had on their music. Alison’s work in The Dead Weather and The Raconteurs is the direct reason for this influence, of course ... one degree of separation, if you will. Some highlights from the night included, “Black Balloon” and “Tape Song”, as well as a quaint and powerful encore opener of “That Love” with Alison playing solo acoustic guitar. The band came out after and went into their single, “Siberian Nights” and had a smash of a closer with “Sour Cherry.”
