The Kills - Camden Roundhouse, London - 3rd June 2011 (Live Review)
Thursday, 09 June 2011
Written by V O'Hagan
“I was trying to shift a load of Moby tickets last night. They wouldn’t budge.” The ticket-tout sucks furiously on his half-spent Lambert and holds up a fistful of Kills tickets. “But these are a different story…they’re ripping me bleeding hands off for ‘em!”
Hundreds of hip young things dawdle on the sun-baked pavements outside the Roundhouse waiting for one of the coolest bands in town to do their thing. Allison Moshart and Jamie Hince (otherwise known as ‘VV and Hotel’, or ‘That Girl and Kate Moss’s Boyfriend) are a sexy little two-piece that have just released their fourth album, ‘Blood Pressures’ and tonight’s gig is quite the hot ticket.
The duo walk onstage against a backdrop of leopard print, looking like two hungover art students who have stumbled into Nicky Wire’s living room. They open with ‘No Wow’ from their 2005 album of the same name. It’s a great start. It’s visually stunning, and the stage is lit up by a million glowing fairy lights as Moshart growls through the song like Courtney Love, stomping her black-booted foot like she’s killing spiders.
They follow with a track from the new album; ‘Future Starts Slow’ and Hince’s voice mingles seductively with Moshart’s like whisky stirred into strong coffee. Moshart purrs her way through ‘DNA’, and ‘Satellite’, and the latter song’s slow eerie chants are well suited to the Roundhouse’s acoustics, hanging in the air like slowly drifting cigarette smoke.
The bass rumbles through the floor like a heavy pulse as Hince plays his guitar with a snarl, at times hammering the strings sharply (although from my angle it kind of looks like he’s trying to put out a small fire that has broken out on his crotch, but standing next to Moshart who could blame him?) Moshart straps on a guitar for 'Tape Song’ which gets the most enthusiastic response of the night, but ‘Baby Says’ is a little spoiled by the heavy drum and bass, the mild and gentle melody getting lost somewhere along the line.
Dawn Penn’s ‘You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)’ is given a Kills makeover, sounding spiky and seductive as Moshart struts across a line of amps like she’s working the street and ready to beat the shit out of the next punter who gives her the eye. After a blistering rendition of ‘Your Cherry’, the duo stalk off into the shadows but return for an encore, Moshart having swapped her casual black shirt for half a ton of glittering gold sequins. The dramatic costume change is quite fitting, as she stands alone in the spotlight against a backdrop of golden stars like a music hall starlet to sing ‘Last Goodbye’. Considering the sultry, too-cool-for-school collection of songs that we’ve listened to tonight, ‘Last Goodbye’ is a real change of tone. Everyone stands still and just listens to her sing, her voice cracking with emotion, and by the end of the song she’s put her hands up to her face looking sweetly awkward and flushed.
This sensitive scene is soon forgotten though as she sits down to play drums on a foot-stomping ‘Pots and Pans’. Hince attacks his guitar like he’s slicing someone up with razorblades and carries this energy through for the last song of the night, ‘Fried My Little Brains’ from their full-length debut ‘Keep on Your Mean Side’. From the enthusiastic response of the audience and the fact that ‘Kissy Kissy’ and ‘Tape Song’ got the best reactions of the night, it seems that anyone who came to this gig to hear a thorough airing of the band’s back-catalogue will be slightly disappointed. For those who came to dance, writhe and raise their blood pressure however, I think The Kills have done the trick tonight.
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