Pardon the pun.
I couldn’t resist.
But seriously though, as the kick-off to this year’s Musicfest Northwest (or MFNW for future reference), The Kills at the Crystal Ballroom were awesome. I caught maybe five minutes of their set at Bumbershoot, but this venue was so much better for them, with the smoke machine and creepy paintings of cherubs on the walls. The only downside was the fact that it may have gotten to be over 100 degrees in there at some point.
For some ungodly reason Portland was in the low 90s all weekend, and you know what that means for music venues – they’re even hotter. But surprisingly, I didn’t see anyone pass out the whole time I was there.
But back to the music, shall we? Eleanor Friedberger, of the Fiery Furnaces, opened for the Kills, with an understated, but stellar performance. It was virtually just herself up on the stage, and she was very well-received by the possibly-dehydrated crowd, and it made for a lovely opening set.
I’m just amazing that she survived that stage wearing all that denim. It was refreshing to see her without her brother Matthew, though her style stayed true to the sound we all know from her – gritty garage blues, but solo Eleanor had a bit more sassy pop to her. I liked it.
After the temperature of the room went up like… at least ten degrees, more smoke machines were turned on and even more people crowded in. Thank god for the free water station at the back of the room.
I will start off by saying – Alison Mosshart is one of the best front…women? I’ve ever seen. No, one of the best frontpeople – because she can stand next to Anthony Kiedis any day. I’m serious. This chick can rock her ass off – and it doesn’t hurt that her hair on this particular occasion was flaming red.
She’s crazy. Crazy awesome that is. She and guitarist Jamie Hince have all the chemistry two people need on stage, but it was so unspoken and understated that you almost forgot that there were two separate people on stage.
The Kills’ live performance was much bluesier than one would expect from the bands’ earlier albums. I guess Mosshart’s time with the Dead Weather rubbed off a bit, because the new songs were much heavier than previous albums, but just as good and just as sexy. And the opening number with “No Wow” was definitely not ‘no wow.’
Oh come on, I couldn’t not do it.
By the end of the evening, I was thoroughly satisfied with the Kills’ live show, even if I was a bit sweaty. Alison Mosshart might be my new favourite person to photograph. The girl does not stop moving!
