Cold War Kids became one of the biggest buzzes of 2006 and have surprisingly kept their momentum up through 2007. With a few EPs, they translated their nuggets into last year's full-length debut, Robbers and Cowards. With performances at SXSW and Lollapalooza this year, the Kids have been ubiquitous spreading their SoCal gritty pop hits like "Hang Me Out to Dry" and "Hospital Beds."
Download - Cold War Kids - "Hang Me Out to Dry"
The quartet hit the stage against a draped banner that read: "100 Years of Solitude Yet 12 Years Old," a line taken from their song "God, Make Up Your Mind." Lead singer Nathan Willett and band come out playing "Tell Me in the Morning" and begin their incessant musical torrents of scattershot instrument playing and running around stage. Willett belts it out in his falsetto voice. Their alchemy is palpable as the crowd, made up of quite a few teenagers (damn all ages show), cheers them on. They follow it up with a new song, "Dreams Old Men Dream" that sounds like a slight departure from their other oeuvre. The band is still scurrying around stage flailing their instruments while one member plays castanets and the others go back and forth off one another. They play the rambunctious "Passing the Hat" and then play yet another new one, "Look Out Below," a quieter tune. Finally their emblazed intensity dies a little. Willett is quite the multitasker as he strums the guitar and also hits the piano keys. Next is the gospel tinged favorite, "Rubidoux" followed by a B-side "Every Valley is Not a Lake." During this session, 
the gang let it rip again. Poet Derrick Brown comes out and reads his poetry as the Kids play in the background. The lights are dimmed except for flashlights the guys spin around building up to the end of the epic poem. Brown made an appearance at the opening of the show and apparently the Kids designed the art work of some of his poetry books. What nice guys. Finally, Willett pounds those keys introducing the familiar "Hospital Beds." The crowd sings along. "Hang Me Out to Dry" is the last song played inducing a lot of hand clapping and Willett hitting those oh so high notes. The guys leave and come back for two encore songs. It's the last night of their tour and no one holds back. On yet another gospel-esque song, "St. John," the Kids allow their energy to crest again but this time they bring along openers We Barbarians. In a frenzied, grand finale spectacle, the guys parade around stage banging on anything they can find from a water cooler jug to a broom. Cold War Kids may sound just like their albums live, but it's their unrelenting energy and passion that makes for such an indelible performance.
Openers We Barbarians, also from SoCal (Long Beach to be exact) performed after somewhat funny poet Derrick Brown riled the crowd with his lovelorn poetry. Barbarians' intensity is tantamount to Cold War Kids and it's easy to see why they were picked to open. They are currently unsigned, but with such tour exposure and a little help from their friends, they'll probably be signing the dotted line soon enough. Beside opening for the band, they also seem to be roadies as they were seen later onstage setting up and moving equipment for the Kids. Barbarians' lead singer Nathan Warkentin, (Interesting parallels--each group has a Nathan)David Quon and Derek Huele hit the stage opening with "War Clouds" from their self-released debut EP "In the Doldrums." The song bursts to life with power, jagged riffs, and Warkentin's jerky guitar movements. When he sings he wails with angst. At times, the band's sound is anthemic and thus is redolent of Arcade Fire or DeVotchKa especially on their second song, "Spun Out" where the pounding drums resonate throughout the venue. Akin to Nathan Willett, Warkentin is also a multi-instrumentalist as he plays both the guitar and piano simultaneously. After a bout of heavy rock tracks, the trio slow it down for their final song, an acoustic one, "Black and Crooked" with two drummers playing. Suddenly the band has multiplied. We Barbarians played a solid set and deserve all the attention they soon will acquire.
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Posted by: coach sale | 07/12/2010 at 03:03 AM
So you know, David Quon is the lead singer of WB. Warkentin's the drummer.
Posted by: Leslie | 01/12/2008 at 06:09 PM