The Kills wrap up their first Australian tour in five years with rockin’ Sydney theatre show

It had been a long five years between drinks for Australian fans of The Kills, last here for the 2011 Splendour in the Grass festival. Returning for the same event five years and one album later, the duo (performing as a quartet) sounded in top form as they ran through their latest release Ash & Ice, alongside favourites from their back catalogue.

Even after all these years – not to mention the sheer amount of touring they’ve undertaken this year – the chemistry between Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart on the stage is palpable. The pair are intoxicating together live, especially when they both jump on the vocals as in “Echo Home” or the Blues infused “Kissy Kissy”. Though he makes sure to have his moments, like in the sheer emotional power of his guitar in “Black Balloon” or his solo at the end of “Baby Says”, for the most part Jamie steps back and lets Alison run the show. It’s a fair call, too; Mosshart is so commanding on the stage – both vocally and in her performance – that it’s easy to forget that anyone else is there with her. For the encore opener “That Love”, it in fact was just her – solo and acoustic – and it was one of the rare “breathers” during an otherwise high energy show.

And that’s exactly what the band deliver: a high energy rock show; as good of a rock show as you’ll ever see. Having the two extra touring members definitely fleshes out their live sound nicely, leaving the duo to focus on the guitars and the vocals. Though Alison jumping on some massive drums for “Pots and Pans” towards the end of the main set is welcome indeed, as it is when both front members are rocking the guitar simultaneously.

Understandably, the set lent heavily on their latest album Ash & Ice, though favourites from Midnight Boom like “U.R.A. Fever” and “Sour Cherry”, which closed out the night, popped up. This was alongside “DNA” (which they said they hadn’t played in a while) and “Baby Says” off Blood Pressures, encore pleaser “Fried My Little Brains” off Keep On Your Mean Side and “No Wow” off the 2005 album of the same name. “No Wow” opened the night, and to this day remains one of their greatest live songs.

The highlights were constant throughout the set, and as they had little banter to offer, leaving the music to speak for itself. And that was just fine. When you have a guitarist like Jamie, who’s willing to slide a mic stand against his guitar for effect, as in “Monkey 23”, which closed the main set, and a frontwoman like Alison – you really don’t need much more. They certainly have become one of the finest live bands on the planet, and tonight will go down as one of my favourite live experiences of the year. Here’s hoping it’s not another five years between drinks.

SETLIST:
No Wow
U.R.A. Fever
Kissy Kissy
Hard Habit to Break
Heart of a Dog
Impossible Tracks
Black Balloon
DNA
Doing It to Death
Baby Says
Tape Song
Echo Home
Whirling Eye
Pots and Pans
Monkey 23

Encore:
That Love
Siberian Nights
Fried My Little Brains
Sour Cherry

The Kills performed at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on Tuesday 26th July 2016 with support from Melbourne garage rockers Cable Ties.

Photo by Andrew Wade from Splendour in the Grass

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Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.