The Kills Phoenix Concert Theatre2009-05-07

The Kills first came on my radar when news of Jack White's new project, The Dead Weather, broke last month. It's ironic because the tag of 'the NEXT White Stripes' is what kept me away. We already HAD the White Stripes, or did. Since The Dead Weather will not likely grace our shores until the summer I thought it would be worthwhile to see the lead singer in her current incarnation.

We have two other emerging bands filling out the bill tonight; The Magic Wands (careful when you google that) and The Horrors (that's 2 syllables), so it promises to be a night of minimalist garage-rock. Of course we all know what promises are made for. Two unremarkable sets, the second slightly better than the first. The sound was muddy but I suspect that was on purpose and therein lies the problem...I got no idea what to make of that.

The Kills were a step up. So was their sound mix. A couple enjoyable covers; Crazy (no, not that one, the OLD one) and I Put A Spell On You. The drum machine is a little disconcerting. Live music should be, well, live. The guitar work was very good and Alison's schtick is going to fit in well with Jack's new project.

Track 01. U.R.A. Fever
Track 02. Pull A U
Track 03. Sour Cherry
Track 04. Tape Song
Track 05. No Wow
Track 06. Alphabet Pony
Track 07. Last Day Of Magic
Track 08. Kissy Kissy
Track 09. Black Balloon
Track 10. Hook and Line
Track 11. Crazy (Patsy Cline)
Track 12. Getting Down
Track 13. Cheap and Cheerful
Track 14. Fried My Little Brains
Track 15. audience/encore break
Track 16. ??
Track 17. Wait
Track 18. I Put a Spell On You (Screamin' Jay Hawkins-cover)