According to Andrew Tiddball, the creator of cheeseontoast.co.nz, a Kills show is always something to behold. Not every show is done the same way and every song is played completely differently than the one before. He would know. This is his 5th Kills show and they remain his favourite live band.
With this in mind, Ientered the San Francisco Bath House with high hopes for a great night. Iwas not disappointed. First impressions on entering were the electic audience; from older middle-aged men with grey hair trying to act as though they are still young and hip, to some young teenie boppers who seemed more interested trying to spot Kate Moss backstage (she is the current girlfriend of Kills guitarist Jamie Hince). With this mix there surely wouldn’t be a lot of reaction from the crowd. Everyone would just try to look cool. Iwas very, very wrong.
As soon as the lights came down and the irritating boogie-woogie music stopped, things got a little crazy. Alison Mosshart (aka VV) and Jamie Hince (aka Hotel) stepped out onto the stage and everyone in the crowd lost control and went just a little bit mental. They opened with ‘U.R.A. Fever’, the slow yet heavy first track from their latest offering Midnight Boom, which sent the sold-out crowd into a small frenzy. Mosshart stalked the crowd like the sexy vampire she is, while Hince punched his guitar and screamed at the manic front row full of luscious model-like ladies.
Throughout the rest of the gig, The Kills played most of the great songs off their three albums, Midnight Boom, No Wow and Keep On Your Mean Side. For me there were two main highlights. Firstly, the hit song ‘Last Day Of Magic’, where Hince and Mosshart sang the song to each other rather to the crowd, like two lovers fighting. However, the greatest moment of the gig came when the band covered ‘IPut a Spell On You’. Mosshart stalked around the stage with the microphone streaming her head off as though someone had just broken her heart.
Final thoughts/advice: take E and listen to The Kills. It really works!
San Francisco Bath House
Wednesday 25th of March