Live: The Kills @ The Metro
[Update: Yay! This article is actually getting posted. I'll provide a link when it goes live on Monday-ish.]
Another “for fun” exercise, this time for the Kills. 
I wanted to see if I could write a decent review for a band I wasn’t as into as a band like Ghostland. By the way, there may be another concert review post coming Tuesday, for Clinic (who I’ll see Monday night).
PS The awesome A/V club quote comes courtesy of Candice. 
Having never before seen the Kills, and having only heard their albums a few times, I went in to the show cautiously optimistic. When you’re first introduced to a band, a concert can serve as a great way to propel your excitement in a band; it can also kill the spark of interest before it ignites to flame.
But before we talk about the Kills, who played Friday night at the Metro, let’s take a moment to discuss the opening act, Telepathe - a band who describes their sound as “the future”.
What a… curious quartet. “Awkward” comes to mind as a way to describe them. Their dancing was awkward, their bad-’80s fashion sense was awkward, and their music was even awkward - all seemingly driven from the perspective of highlighting their passion for the music, but still awkward. That the band consisted of attractive types (even though they desperately tried to obscure that) helped. But was it enough? We were a respectful crowd, but I didn’t get the sense that the band made any lasting connections. In fact, one person described their performance as like a group of “A/V club members messing around in the gymnasium, kind of like the Star Wars Kid.”
The Kills, on the other hand, completely connected with intensity and attitude.
In front of a canvas displaying black-and-white videos often featuring acts from punk-rock history (the Ramones, the Patti Smith Group, Blondie, etc.), Sexy Alison “VV” Mosshart drew the crowd in tight while circling the largely vacant stage with measured strides, lulling the crowd, only to lunge to the edge, staring intently out into the audience before playfully retreating to share a steamy mic exchange with guitarist Jamie “Hotel” Hince - or perhaps just to laugh over the sudden appearance of a bra thrown out from the crowd.
The duo played their own brand of post-punk interpretation to great applause, with a set list consisting mostly of songs from their latest release, Midnight Boom - including Alphabet Pony, U.R.A. Fever, What New York Used To Be, and Tape Song - but also including a few of their older hits - such as Fried My Little Brains and No Wow.
Moving quickly between songs, the Kills got through their set in only fifty or so minutes - but that was followed up by one of the loudest, most-sustained curtain calls I’ve heard in a while. The audience wanted the Kills back, and the band was happy to oblige to the order of another twenty minutes, including another one of their hits in Love Is A Deserter.
About that spark I referenced in the opener? I think it’s time to go find a stash of Kills songs to do some catching up on this band.
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