The Kills’ Allison Mosshart may be the undeclared modern day queen of rock, the Debbie Harry of our era. While she may not enjoy the same level of success, any woman who can hold her own with Jack White on stage is certainly deserving of such a title.
On this night, as part of the Pop Montreal festival, she was hitting the Metropolis stage as her alter VV as one half of indie rock darlings The Kills. It only took a few lines into opener “Heart of a Dog” for her to be on her knees, wailing into her mic, claiming that rock is alive and well on that very stage.
The track was the first of many in a set heavily laden in their newest album, Ash & Ice. They are very proud of their latest effort and it showed. Mosshart, along with her partner, guitarist Jamie Hince, displayed an on stage bravado that rivals any of the great rock duos. The enigmatic axeman with the front(wo)man that reaches out to the crowd and makes sure everyone is getting what they came for.
Crowd favorites came early with “Black Balloon,” newest single “Doing it to Death” and “Tape Song.” While the crowd ate up the new stuff, they were very appreciative of hearing their classic material blended in. This was by far the rowdiest of the Pop Montreal shows I had the priviledge to attend.
After the crowd gave them a most rawcous encore callback, the band obliged by ging them a four song encore. They ended the evening with the hard hitting “Fried My Little Brains,” sending the crowd home with a buzz.
Not many bands that identify as indie can give a performance with this much of an edge. The Kills lived up to their name on this night.
Review – Richard Brunette
Photos – Steve Gerrard
