I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 8, 2018] First Aid Kit

Seven month ago Sarah and I saw First Aid Kit (sold out) at Union Transfer.  Now here they were back in Philly seven months later playing at the larger Fillmore.

We both enjoyed that earlier show a lot (obviously).  I wasn’t sure if it was smart seeing the band again on the same tour (as with Sloan, there was a lot of duplication).  But there was something quite different about this show compared to the first one.

The (very beautiful) poster was different and this leg of the tour was called the Rebel Hearts Tour (whereas the first one was called the Ruins tour).  So what this meant was that they were still playing mostly songs from their new album Ruins, although not all of them, and, indeed, not the title song.  But they’d added a new song (woohoo!) and one from Ruins that they didn’t play last time.

In a nutshell, it felt like a very different show even though it was more or less the same show.

The stage was set up the same with keys on the left, drums in the middle and the slide guitar on the right.  The occupants of those instruments came out first: Steve Moore on keys and trombone, Scott Simpson on drums and Melvin Duffy on pedal steel.  But this time Klara and Johanna also came out and they stood in a line with them.  There were microphones at the front of the stage so I assumed these two were backing singers.  Although why would they need them?

They opened with “Distant Star,” a song the didn’t play last time.  It’s a deep cut, but it’s a great song and was an auspicious start to be sure.  After a verse, they came down to the microphones up front  and sang most of the rest of the show from them–occasionally walking back up to chat with the guys.

Klara and Johanna seemed to be having a lot more fun at this show.  Maybe it was the larger stage, maybe it was having played all of the songs so much by now, I don’t know.  But they moved around a lot more than last time and Johanna was even skipping around the stage.  They had fun flinging their hair up over their heads and were just a lot more chatty (Hello Philleeeeeee!).  I feel like this show was faster-paced or more rocking or something and yet comparing the set-lists it’s not as if they played only slow ballads last time.

More importantly, they sounded fantastic–their harmonies were dynamite (of course)–especially during the “my darling, you’re so far away” part.

Last time we were right in front of Johanna.  I said we should stay in from of Klara this time.  Strangely, the lights were such that it was hard to get a good picture of either of them (although I found some better ones of Johanna since the spotlight wasn’t always focused on her.  But Johanna was certainly present.  Her harmonies re wonderful and, like last time, I was delighted by what a great bass player she is.   She had a lot of cool little runs and fills and the clarity of her instrument was awesome.

Like last time, they played “It’s Shame” second which got everyone moving.  The sound was amazing and I loved the way the slide guitar echoed throughout the room.

The last time they played “Master Pretender” in the encore, but this time it was up front and it also sounded great (everything sounded great).

We were both surprised that they didn’t play “Postcard.”  It’s a new song with a video that they made for the show (like last time they had videos projected behind them).

Rather, they went right to the wonderful “Stay Gold. ” Like last time they followed it up with an awesome “The Lions Roar” (this is the song that totally sold me on the duo when I first heard it).  It was followed by the amazing “You Are the Problem Here.”  Last show we hadn’t heard the song yet, so it was a shock to hear Klara play the electric guitar and sing so explicitly and angrily.  It is righteous anger, to be sure, and the song is just fantastic.  So when she strapped on the electric guitar this time I was excited to hear this again.

When we saw them in February, #metoo was still making headlines and “You Are the Problem Here” was a perfect musical accompaniment to the outrage that women and men felt about what these predatory males (like our president) have done.  Now, here it was seven month later and nothing has really changed.  Some of these scum are poking their heads out of the sludge to see if it’s safe for them and the president is still president.  Sadly this song is even more relevant now than it was then.  But I can still say that it totally rocks, too.

As Klara told us why she needed to write that song she was still passionate about the lyrics (to hear her sing “I hope you fucking suffer” will send chills down your spine).  So as she calmed down a bit, Johanna told us about a song that was on their new EP.  She said they had songs left over from the recording session that didn’t fit the tone of the album.  Ruins was a breakup album and some of these other songs were not breakup songs. Like this one, which Klara said was slow and long.  But “I’ve Wanted You” was beautiful and not too long at all.

After that song, the band left the stage and they surprised me by playing “The Hem of Her Dress.”  Last time they played it as the first encore.  But it was a lot of fun to have it as a rousing sing a long in the middle of the show.

There were some crowd issues by us before this song. There was some guy who was apparently talking loudly (just far enough away from me that I could almost tune him out).  At some point someone (I think the mother of two kids standing to me) said something to him and he got all huffy.  Pretty much proving the point of “You are the Problem Here”.

This was during the brand new song — come on dude.  So when they started “Hem of Her Dress” and asked us to sing along he started howling that you couldn’t sing or talk here or something.  He either shut up or maybe we drowned him out as we sang along.

I love that it started with them around a microphone and then the mandolin and trombone came out followed eventually but the drummer with floor tom.  They were all surrounding one mic and having a wonderful time.  It was great.

They followed that with “King of the World” and Klara screamed the straight to hell line from Johanna’s microphone.

Then it was time for their cover.  Last time was  a rocking version of Heart’s Crazy on You.  This time it was their version of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.”  And it was sublime.

That was it for new songs for us.  But that’s fine because the last six songs are favorites and again they sounded perfect.  At least the order was not quite the same.  They played “Wolf” which sounded great.  I love the way the sing the first part of the chorus.

To me “Emmylou” is their big hit–it’s the first song of theirs, and I loved it immediately.  I’m always surprised it’s not in the encore.  Then came the new song and album ender “Nothing Has to Be True.”

So this time the encore was quite different. Last time they started with “Hem of Her Dress” and then Van William came out and sang his song “Revolution” (which they sing back up on).

This time they started the encore with “Rebel Heart” (which they opened with last time).  Such a great song. and I loved the accompanying video.

Then came “Fireworks.”   I have to assume that the song has really taken off, so it gets the now excellent encore position.  And yes, I’ll repeat that it sounded phenomenal.

Like last time they ended with a show stopping performance of “My Silver Lining.”  It was a wonderful ending.

I was surprised to see that they played two fewer songs at this show.  And that’s been consistent on this leg of the tour. I wonder why.  They took out two of the songs from Ruins.  I wonder if that’s what made the pacing seem better?  So that means also that we have heard live every song from the album except “My Wild Sweet Love.”  I wonder if they don’t like it or what.

It was definitely worth seeing them again seven months later.

Fillmore September 8, 2018	Union Transfer February 10, 2018
Distant Star ®	Rebel Heart ®
It’s a Shame ®	It’s a Shame ®
Master Pretender $	King of the World £
Stay Gold $	Postcard ®
The Lion’s Roar £	Stay Gold $
You Are the Problem Here	The Lion’s Roar £
I’ve Wanted You [te]	You Are the Problem Here
Hem of Her Dress ®	To Live a Life ®
King of the World £	Ruins ®
Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush)	Wolf
Wolf	Crazy on You (Heart)
Emmylou £	Fireworks ®
Nothing has To Be True ®	Emmylou £
encore	Nothing has To Be True ®
Rebel Heart ®	encore
Fireworks ®	Hem of Her Dress ®
My Silver Lining $	Revolution (Van William)
	Master Pretender $
	My Silver Lining $

te = Tender Offerings EP (2018) ®=Ruins (2018);   $=Stay Gold (2014);   £=Lion’s Roar (2012)