[ATTENDED: July 15, 2023] First Aid Kit
My wife and I saw First Aid Kit twice in seven months. First at Union Transfer and then, when they came back through Philly, at the much larger Fillmore.
Both shows were great and we were happy to see them twice so soon apart.
Especially since it took five years for them to come back to town!
The seven month separation between shows led me to observe:
In a nutshell, it felt like a very different show even though it was more or less the same show.
But five years is a long time. They put out a new album (and reissued it with extra songs the other day). So this promised to be a very different show.
Although the set up was similar, the backing band was different this time. Last time: Steve Moore on keys and trombone, Scott Simpson on drums and Melvin Duffy on pedal steel. This time: Freja “Freja the Dragon” Drakenberg on keyboards, Gabriel Runemark on drums and Johannes Runemark (a.k.a. Kasino) on guitar and mandolin.
Klara and Johanna came out a few moments later looking fabulous–they have really embraced their look with Klara in a hot pink pantsuit and Johanna in a short flowy one piece that was mesmerizing in its pattern.
The new album is great and it is doing well and they opened with two songs from it.
I knew they’d be playing a lot of new stuff, but they did a great job interweaving it since after the two new tracks, including the first single “Angel,” they played previous big hit “It’s a Shame.” There was no pedal steel guitar on this tour, although Johannes could play those pedal steel lines on his guitar quite easily.
And there was some delightful banter with the crowd (Hello Philleeeeeee!).
There area few ballads on the album, but they saved them for a mellow middle section which was quite lovely. The rest of the set was all bangers and dancey numbers.
More importantly, they sounded fantastic–their harmonies were dynamite (of course) throughout the show. Having Freja dna Johannes also sing backup on some of the songs made the voices even bigger, but the core duo really has an amazing chemistry.
We were pretty much right in front of Johanna this time (our daughter came too and enjoyed it, except that it was WAY TOO HOT! The a/c must have been broken because damn, it was hot in there).
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. She’s also so effortless with it it’s easy to forget that she’s playing the great bass lines.
Last time they had videos projected behind them for each song. This show started with some videos and then after a few songs, some cool technicolor clouds were lowered behind them. It was a very neat look.
After another new song, “Fallen Snow”, they jumped to a wonderful “Stay Gold.”
Then Johanna sang a song–her voice is absolutely beautiful (deeper than Klara’s) and she is a little underutilized. True, her harmonies are incredible, but it was great to hear her sing lead on “Everybody’s Got to Learn,” a song for her daughter.
Then there were two great older songs in a row “Rebel Heart” and “The Lion’s Roar.”
I realized that last time, they played an angry song called “You Are the Problem Here.” It is a great raging song full of righteous anger. And that anger cannot have dissipated in the last few years. They said they tried to make a happier record this time (but that was boring). Nevertheless there was no outrage tonight, just beautiful songs.
They ended the first part of their set with “Wild Horses II” a breakup song in which (we’ll say) Klara’s significant other liked the Rolling Stones’ version, but she liked Gram’s. It was a wonderful intro. Johanna told Klara to show off her Gram Parsons tattoo, but Klara said she had nothing on underneath her jacket (and this show was being livestreamed).
Then the band left and it was just Klara and Johanna, center stage with an old timey microphone. They played a stunning version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” in tribute to Christine MacVie. I actually didn’t know the song and when I listened to it I liked First Aid Kit’s better. I hope they release it some day.
They had asked the crowd to be quiet and I was thrilled with the Philly audience for respecting that and sitting quietly while they sang this lovely song.
They stayed in this format and played a song that Klara said was on their first album and which they have always played. Although they didn’t play it either of the two times we saw them before. It was “Ghost Town,” a song I didn’t know.
They followed that one with a rowdier song. “The Hem of Her Dress” is a fun sing along. As they started it, it was just the two of them. Then accordion and mandolin joined and finally a drum came out and by the end we were all singing “da da, da da da.”
The went back to their spots for the new “A Feeling that Never Came” and then they ended with a glorious “Emmylou” (complete with singalong at the end) and a simply stunning “Fireworks.”
The encore break was a little long. We assumed that it was because they were cooling off. But in fact, they were changing outfits. Klara came out with a jacket that was full of fringe on the arms and Johanna had on a long flowing dress (she said she put it on backwards and that’s why it took so long).
They reenergized us (we were flagging from the heat) with the fantastic new song “Out of My Head.”
The fun “King of the World” was somewhat truncated (they didn’t sing the Conor Oberst verse), so they could introduce the band which segued into a cover of “On the Road Again.”
And finally, they ended with a fantastic “My Silver Lining.”
Gotta Keep on Keeping On.
The show was wonderful. We were close enough without being too close. There weren’t super tall or talkative people around us. The sound was incredible. And yes, it was uncomfortably hot, but the band more than made up for it.
We headed out back to the car just as the waterfront started a fireworks display. It was pretty magical.
The previous show at the Fillmore was shorter than the first show. That seemed weird. This show packed in 19 songs but was still only about 90 minutes. However, it didn;t feel short at all–I couldn’t have asked for more. And, we made it home by midnight!
Fillmore July 15, 2023 |
Fillmore September 8, 2018 |
Union Transfer February 10, 2018 |
Palomino ψ | Distant Star ® | Rebel Heart ® |
Angel ψ | It’s a Shame ® | It’s a Shame ® |
It’s a Shame ® | Master Pretender $ | King of the World £ |
Fallen Snow ψ | Stay Gold $ | Postcard ® |
Stay Gold $ | The Lion’s Roar £ | Stay Gold $ |
Everybody’s Got to Learn ψ | You Are the Problem Here | The Lion’s Roar £ |
Rebel Heart ® | I’ve Wanted You [te] | You Are the Problem Here |
The Lion’s Roar £ | Hem of Her Dress ® | To Live a Life ® |
Wild Horses II ψ | King of the World £ | Ruins ® |
Songbird (Fleetwood Mac) [from center mic–no band] | Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush) | Wolf |
Ghost Town ß [from center mic–no band] | Wolf | Crazy on You (Heart) |
Hem of Her Dress ® [from center mic–band joined them] | Emmylou £ | Fireworks ® |
A Feeling That Never Came ψ | Nothing has To Be True ® | Emmylou £ |
Emmylou £ | encore | Nothing has To Be True ® |
Fireworks ® | Rebel Heart ® | encore |
encore | Fireworks ® | Hem of Her Dress ® |
Out of My Head ψ | My Silver Lining $ | Revolution (Van William) |
King of the World £ | Master Pretender $ | |
On the Road Again (Willie Nelson) | My Silver Lining $ | |
My Silver Lining $ |
ψ = Palamino (2022)
te = Tender Offerings EP (2018)
®=Ruins (2018)
$=Stay Gold (2014)
£=Lion’s Roar (2012)
ß = The Big Black & The Blue ()
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