The Kills

The Kills were exactly what I thought they'd be, which sounds like faint praise, but is simply legit praise. They knocked out "U.R.A. Fever" early & mid-3rd song, the already dynamic Alison Mosshart grabbed a guitar, which created an LOL moment like, "Oh sh!t, the hyperactive child who ate 4 candy bars just picked up a gun!" Fwiw, we got 1 of 2 of the power ballads I was really hoping for, "Black Balloon" (but no "Goodnight Bad Morning"), plus "Baby Says," so no complaints there. Killer—-oop, unfortunate near-pun there--3-song encore, which they opened by absolutely shredding "Tape Song." Then on the last encore song (& they have many songs that could lyrically fill that slot), "Sour Cherry," Mosshart smiled & playfully wagged her finger at the crowd during the chorus, "G-g-g-go home, go home it's over / G-g-g-go home it's over." Nice touch, that.

The real revelation of the night was opener L.A. Witch & my two-word review for them, arrived at mid-2nd song, was "hypnotic filth" (& I mean that as positively as possible...w/ their brooding rock, dey nasty). I liked what I could find of theirs online pre-show & they were even stronger live which, given their *heavy* sound, is no small feat. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the band creating this sound was a 3-woman outfit (despite my knee-jerk twinge of liberal guilt at said surprise, having assumed it'd be guys backing the female lead singer based on their sound, lol). Live, their powerful drummer drove the bus & it would've ended up in a ditch if lead singer Sade Sanchez's vocals & lead guitar weren't both up to the task of matching that strength.

Finally, I weave (heh) a silly note about Rock Hair: Whereas The Kills' Mosshart owned the stage, flailing about w/ her wild white hair, Sanchez seemed reticent/shy (bold performance aside), moving rarely & almost hiding behind her long black curls to the point that it was a surprise when she mildly engaged the crowd over halfway through their set. (Despite the diff. types of music & maybe a foot & 1/2's diff. in height, I nearly expected to hear Sanchez speed-count off, "1-2-3-4," immediately at the end of each song/before the next song, such was her visual similarity to Joey Ramone in this respect. :)

What. A. Show. L.A. Witch was a fantastic opening act for The Kills. Listening to their set, I was reminded of an all girl version of Velvet Underground. The drummer rocked it, they had a great look, and seemed to really enjoy the intense positive reaction from the crowd.
Once L.A. Witch left the stage there was a break for about 40 minutes. I wasn't very happy about that. I'd even considered ditching the rest of the show if VV and Hotel didn't take the stage by 9:35pm (maybe I was being a baby about it. I'm an old man these days, i guess).
Once they walked on stage, though, The Kills brought their A game and played at full speed. This was one of the best live rock shows I've ever seen. Alison Mosshart is one of the most energetic, vibrant, flexible, and wild performers in the industry. It was like watching a high speed inflatable air dancer (you know the kind that you see at a car lot). She never stopped moving! The energy she brought to the performance had me wondering how the hell she was still standing by the end of the encore (or, if this is how she performs, how she had the energy to do this for every show of the tour and still bring it for the next). Hotel is a master showman as well. He was grabbing mic stands to use them as guitar frets, interacting with the crowd, going wild all on his own.
They started the show with about 3 or 4 songs my wife and I were very familiar with (we and the crowd belting them out at the top of our lungs right along with the band). I'd say only about 1/3 of the show were songs from the new album but even those were amazing. It's what you can expect from these two: just good music and music done well.
Typically, because of my early work schedule, I won't spring for mid-week concerts because I know the drive back home won't allow me the beauty sleep I think i need to be a productive member of society the next day. Having seen them once, not only would I DEFINITELY go to a Kills show again, I'd go ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. When I left I was more jazzed than I am after a pot of coffee. Even if I dragged ass the next day, it would be worth it considering the amazing show put on by this stellar band.

The Kills made me believe in Rock n' Roll all over again.
Jamie Hince and Allison Mosshart are the ultimate musical duo. The chemistry they share radiates off of them and wraps around the entire crowd. It is evident they believe in what they are putting out into the world, and it's impossible for anyone to remain as a standby and not be swept up in it. The venue doesn't matter when it comes to The Kills. For a few hours you are not in a venue, you are in their world, hanging on every breathy sound that comes out of them.
They are one of the few bands left in this industry that have made a career of their music without selling out. Watching them allows you to not only be reminiscent of what Rock n' Roll used to be (dirty, unpolished, and not for the faint of heart,) but also have faith that there is still a sliver of that left. They have an air of not caring what the rest of the world thinks with a confidence that makes you want to be next to. Songs like "The Last Goodbye" and "Cheap And Cheerful" swallow a person up whole and when they're spat back out they take away an indescribable feeling. A feeling that only someone else that has seen this band will understand - "refreshed electricity" is the best way to put it.

Indie rock duo The Kills, consisting of Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart have enjoyed huge critical acclaim since they released their debut album 'Keep On Your Mean Side' in 2003. The raw quality of their music won them a huge following in both the US & the UK. The desire to see the band live is massive and their tours are often elusive so the atmosphere of anticipation and excitement in the venue in huge.

The textured, fabric backdrop seems a little out of place for such a grunge heavy outfit yet it does add to the homely, natural feel of their music. The lights illuminate and the duo step out modestly before they almost tear the roof off with a combination of guitar and percussion during introduction 'No Wow' from their second album.

The sound they create considering they are just two musicians is partly unbelievable but as they have been touring as a band for fifteen years they have clearly had practice in jamming. They run through a set of all the cult favourites such as 'Last Day of Magic' and 'Kissy Kissy'. The honest lyricism and alt-pop melodies found in their music keeps the crowd enthusiastic throughout and the singalong to 'Tape Song' is evidence The Kills have made a real impression on the circuit.

Alison affirmed her status as the hottest female rock and roll performer of our generation. She and Jaime and band were on fire. Alison leaned out over the front of the audience multiple times and had a smile on her face as the crowd adored her. Jaime, for his part, put on his own great performance at one point using Alison's mic stand as an improvised slide.

Opener Saul William's was an awesome surprise for a first time. He provided a thought and feeling provoking opening set that immersed us in one man spoken word rap and A/V immersion. Alison and Jaime invited him back out for "List of Demands" which, after a quick google search, showed he had produced his own cover of the classic.

The band was obvious fired up for their sole LA performance and the energy on the stage and in the crowd was incredible. A show to remember for sure.

This was the second time I've seen the Kills live. The first time was one of the most entertaining shows I've ever attended. I was extremely excited for the opportunity to see them again live, but the show was immensely disappointing. I'm not sure if it was the tech crew or the venue, but the audio was horrible. The volume was so high and there was so much reverb from Alison's vocals that it actually began to hurt my ears. If I didn't know the words to most of the songs previously I would't have been able to distinguish them from the guitar or drum noise. I'm going to chalk this up to just being in the wrong venue. I've had good experiences with both the Kills and the Granada in the past, so I'll give them each at least one more chance, but if it's like this again I'm done with both.

I really enjoyed the show The Kills, put on at The Ogden. They played and sang from the heart. Allison sang her butt off, and Jamie played the guitar, like a wild man. Great show. The Ogden is where they played, they had no air conditioning, and the band had 2 small fans at either side of the stage. Both band members ,mentioned how hot it was at least 4 times. I can't believe they played at all, as it was well over 100 degrees in here. People were sweating and many just bought water to try and cool down. It was the most miserable venue it was pretty dirty, and the bartenders were kind of rude maybe because they were as hoI have ever been in. The old bldg. is cool. But the heat was unacceptable, it was literally a people sick. I will never go there again to see any show.

Umph!!! Power and finesse were the bywords of The Kills performance tonight at the Fox Theater in Oakland.

With peircing vocals and an captivating presence Alison Mosshart aka W stalked the stage, engaging the crowd with obvious delight that showed through even as she evoked the most sultry of poses. Counterpunched with perfectly timed eviscerating electro sleaze/rock guitar riffs from Jamie Hince, the duo created a rich and layered, gut wrenching, steamy hot, slickly polished performance that the only comes from intense musical and personal chemistry. Lacking any better metaphor, you could cut the tension with a knife.

5 out 5 a must see.

This was a great gig, in which lots of the numbers were delivered with passion. I was a bit surprised at the *lack* of interaction between VV and Hotel, though - have they fallen out? VV's vocals, and her whole performance, were great, especially on the opening number 'Heart of a Dog' and on 'Doing it to Death' (the best number from their new album 'Ash and Ice'). Hotel's guitar, too, was pretty good, and he coped well in the aftermath of the infection and subsequent surgeries he's had. I guess the finger that hasn't responded is the middle finger of his left hand (which was visibly immobile almost throughout).

I wanted to see the kills for ages.
Then I had a really exhausting and shitty day yesterday but when the concert was over they made sing and dance along. The kills were in a super good mood and really gave their best. Best moment was when they surprisingly played one of my all time favourit songs!!
They are totally worth to be seen!!

And yes I love songkick it's a pretty useful app. The only thing I “dislike“ is that sometimes the tour dates aren't conplete. But all in all thumbs up! \m/