The Kills & Cold Cave at La Zona Rosa [Show Review]
If there was one thing that was evident during The Kills' performance at La Zona Rosa last night, it was that Alison Mosshart and James Hince are an entertaining bunch. While their show was nothing spectacular or mind blowing, Mosshart and Hince handled themselves like professionals. They balanced the right amount of posturing and energy to propel their brand of drum machine charged, blues inspired rock in a set that placed several cuts from their recently released Blood Pressures amidst many favorites from their back catalog.
Cold Cave preceded The Kills with a very loud, yet high quality, set of dark synthpop. The band started things off with a wash of abrasive synths and feedback for two minutes before diving in to their first song. It turned out that these loud bursts of noise would serve as the transitions between songs, as Wesley Eisold and company were not ones for stage banter outside of "Thanks, we're Cold Cave." However, despite a particularly tedious three minutes of noise about midway through their set, the band managed to let their songs do most of the talking.
With the exception of old standby "Youth and Lust," Cold Cave's set consisted entirely of cuts from their new album, Cherish The Light Years. It was a move that made sense, considering that many of the songs off of 2009's Love Comes Close required the touch of former member Caralee McElroy. However, the songs on Cherish The Light Years played to many of Cold Cave's strengths and expanded upon them, something that was perfectly evident at La Zona Rosa. Eisold's voice sounded just as hopeless and melodramatic as is does on record, the synths were prominent and provided many hooks and flourishes, and the drums were as tight as could be. Songs like "Pacing Around The Church," "Confetti" and the excellent set closer/album opener "The Great Pan Is Dead" held their own, demonstrating that Cold Cave are one of the premiere bands practicing this mode of new wave revival.
With black and blue as their wardrobe colors of choice, Mosshart and Hince finally made it onstage about ten minutes after they were scheduled to start. From the first processed beats of set opener "No Wow," it was evident that the group was fresh and eager to perform. Mosshart more than proved herself as an engaging front woman, walking around the stage with the mic, bobbing her head, and running her hands through her hair to new cuts "Future Starts Slow" and "Heart Is A Beating Drum." Meanwhile, Hince delivered his blues riffs with effortless aplomb. However, many of the night's best moments came when the two played off each other vocally, as demonstrated on "Satellite" and "DNA." They both have very rich singing voices, and the way they complemented each other fit the music almost perfectly.
While there was some amount of fanfare for their newer songs, the audience typically lost their collective shit when they recognized a cut off one of the band's older albums. One of the loudest responses came when they played 2008's "URA Fever," and there were equally enthusiastic reactions for songs like "Kissy Kissy" and main set closer "Sour Cherry."
It was interesting to see that after a nearly hour long full-on assault that the band chose "Last Goodbye" to start the encore, but it was made memorable by Mosshart's vulnerable performance and the absence of percussion. However, Mosshart made up for this by playing the floor tom during "Pots and Pans," during which Hince pretended to shoot his guitar at her as if it were an automatic weapon. The band finished the night with longtime fan favorite "Fried My Little Brains" off of 2003's Keep On Your Mean Side, a song that perfectly captured the energy that had been present throughout the night. Mosshart and Hince left the stage with smiles on their faces, and many audience members followed suit, as The Kills had turned in a solid performance, nothing more, nothing less.
