There was no better place for rock lovers to be this Valentine’s Day than The Vic Theatre in Chicago. On Feb. 14, The Kills – Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince – shredded, thrashed, sneered, and smiled their way through a career-spanning setlist. The performance also served as an anniversary party as it took place exactly 22 years to the day after the duo played their very first show at 12 Bar in London, back when they were known as VV & Hotel.
The perennial fan favorite “Kissy Kissy” from The Kills’ debut record, Keep on Your Mean Side, kicked things off with “U.R.A. Fever” following, a perfect start to a romantic evening. Mosshart and Hince shared messages of love throughout the night with Hince shouting out the opening act The Paranoyds – a four-piece, wonderfully grungy band from Los Angeles – and Mosshart taking time out to blow a kiss to folks in the venue’s box seats during the Blood Pressures stand-out “Baby Says.” They also shared the slinky single “Love and Tenderness” – off their 2023 release, God Games – which Mosshart called “a love song.”
The show was a stop on the God Games Tour, so new music was featured heavily. While shined with a poppier, glossier polish, the new material fit right in with The Kills’ classics in the live setting. Mosshart paced in circles at the top of “Wasterpiece,” building palpable tension before Hince coaxed menacing snarls from his guitar and pedal board. Earlier, “103” gave a glimpse at Mosshart’s softer side as she cooed the song’s melodic chorus, and, by the time the second verse kicked in, the duo’s trademark ferocity was back with a vengeance creating a beautiful interplay of tones.
“That was one of the last songs we wrote,” Hince said following “Kingdom Come” and leading into “Pull a U.” “This is one of the first songs we wrote. This is our anniversary. We wrote this in 2002. See if you can notice the difference, the simplicity and solidly bad drum sounds. Here we go.”
Fans chuckled at his wry humor before getting swept up in the song’s stomping beat. “Doing It to Death,” “New York,” and “Tape Song,” which featured impressive guitar work – noisy and intricate – from both Hince and Mosshart, also inspired big reactions from the crowd.
Whether they were reveling in the stark, lo-fi sounds of their early work or unleashing the more complex, genre-bending material from God Games, The Kills always radiated the essence of cool. Twenty-two years after first taking the stage together, Mosshart and Hince are more captivating than ever and they also look like they’re having more fun than ever.
Check out photos of The Kills – and The Paranoyds – performing at The Vic Theatre below and click here to pick-up tickets to see them elsewhere on the God Games Tour. More information can be found at Thekills.tv.
(Photos by Laurie Fanelli)
