Concert Review - First Aid Kit @ Union Transfer - Philadelphia, Pa 3-31-2012

photo credit: Neil Krug

First Aid Kit, a Swedish folk duo composed of sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg came through Philadelphia on a short US & Canada tour on the way to Coachella Festival.  The chilly March night did not keep a near sellout crowd away from the sonically fabulous Union Transfer. 

London trio Peggy Sue opened the show.  They are a three piece outfit with hypnotic harmonies by Katy Klaw and Rosa Rex and pounding drums by Olly Olly Olly.  New song 'Idol' stood out the most, with a lyric of "Robert Johnson and the devil" catching my attention.  They played originals and two 50's/60's covers they recorded for a special tour EP; 'Blue Velvet' and 'Heatwave'.

The First Aid Kit touring for new album,The Lion's Roar, hit the road with their album drummer Mattias Bergqvist, Johanna taking lead vocals and guitar,  and Klara playing her Nord Electro 3 keyboard.  The exceptionally confident young ladies, ages 22 and 19 respectively, were tremendous considering their age and experience.  Touring for only their second album the ladies had command of the room with the audience following along. 

At one point, the Söderberg sisters requested complete quiet from the crowd.  Relatively quickly the crowd obliged and were treated to a perfect pure acoustic version of 'Ghost Town'.  At times, the band matched their albums perfectly, but it was fun watching it come to life, such as witnessing Klara rock out on her keyboard on the end of 'I Met Up With The King' nearly knocking it over.  It was even better with the great mic work  by the sound crew; you could clearly hear Klara stomp her heels on 'Lion's Roar', but only heard the harp portion from her autoharp during 'New Years Eve' without hearing the physical strum, which is a flaw of the album in my opinion.

The differences from the album were few but well done.  'Emmylou' was most noticeably missing the pedal steel from the live arrangement, as were the accordion and Conor Oberst vocals on 'King of the World'.  Neither affected the performance, as 'Emmylou' was done simply and beautifully on guitar and keyboard with Klara notably accomplishing both alterations of 'King Of The World' on the keyboard and vocals. 

On 'New Years Eve' Johanna vocals were exceptional, giving Adele a run for her money for best pipes!.  Hit single 'The Lion's Roar' had a cool trippy start.  While on 'The Lion's Roar', 'Blue', and 'To A Poet' the ladies seemed to do a little head banging, especially pronounced by their exceptionally long and beautiful locks.  'The Lion's Roar' is understandable with it's heavy drums, but the hair thrashing on the chill 'Blue' and "To A Poet' were a little unexpected.   Having already played their four biggest tunes the encore was a intriguing.  They did a great job with Patti Smith's 'Dancing Barefoot' and a rousing 'King of the World'!

Speaking of Patti Smith, the band paid their respects during the set, calling her, "the coolest woman on Earth."  They also gave shout outs to two other influential parties in their career.  First giving a dedication of 'Heavy Storm' to Mark Bowen, the co-founder of Wichita Recordings the London independent record label and covering  fellow Swede Fever Ray (Karin Dreijer Andersson)'s 'When I Grow Up'.

SET LIST - First Aid Kit

Union Transfer, Philadelphia, Pa March 31st, 2012

                 Title              -   Original Album (or original artist)
1.   'This Old Routine'              The Lion's Roar                           
2.   'Hard Believer'                  The Big Black & the Blue              
3.   'Blue'                                 The Lion's Roar          
4.   'In the Hearts of Men'        The Lion's Roar      
5.   'Heavy Storm'                    The Big Black & the Blue
6.   'Emmylou'                          The Lion's Roar
7.   'New Years Eve'                The Lion's Roar
8.   'GhostTown'                      The Big Black & the Blue 
9.   'To A Poet'                        The Lion's Roar
10  'Wolf''                                The Lion's Roar (bonus track)
11.  'When I Grow Up'              Fever Ray cover / Ghost Town - EP
12.  'Dance To Another Tune'   The Lion's Roar  
13.  'I Met Up With.The King'  The Big Black & the Blue
14.  'Lion's Roar'                      The Lion's Roar
ENCORE
15.  'Dancing Barefoot'               Patti Smith  
16.  'King Of The World'          The Lion's Roar

For those of you who aren't getting the chance to see the First Aid Kit this tour here's two video's to give you a better glimpse of the band!

First Aid Kit Tiny Desk Concert (New Year's Eve + The Lion's Roar + Emmylou)



Emmylou official video

Directed by the amazing Maximilla Lukacs. It was recorded at Joshua Tree National Park, a truly magical place, on Gram Parson’s birthday. The song is a tribute to some of our favorite country musicians – Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, June Carter and Johnny Cash. It’s about the power of singing together with someone you love.

Keep an eye on the tour dates, and catch them when they are in town!

	Apr 06	Lincoln Hall	Chicago, IL
	Apr 07	Cedar Cultural Center	Minneapolis, MN
	Apr 10	Venue	Vancouver, Canada
	Apr 11	The Crododile	Seattle, WA
	Apr 12	Wonder Ballroom (VENUE CHANGE, SHOW NOW ALL AGES)	Portland, OR
	Apr 15	Coachella	Indio, CA
	Apr 18	Slim's	San Francisco, CA
	Apr 19	El Rey (with Wild Flag)	Los Angeles, CA

Apr 22CoachellaIndio, CA