Photos by Ty Hyten
The Scene: Sister-led Swedish Folk-Country band First Aid Kit sold-out the Ogden Theatre last Tuesday in their first ever headlining appearance in Denver. The well-mannered audience was a reflection of the stage – young women in the front and older folks in back. The short, but noteworthy hour and fifteen minute set that followed was a melding of aging influences and gorgeous young voices.
Opener: Samantha Crain. A solo acoustic set from Oklahoma born Folk singer-songwriter Samantha Crain warmed up the gently stirring audience. Her plainspoken introductions gave her folky narratives context and fans along the stage looked on in admiration. Her set was bare; a mix of simple strumming and open-tuned fingerstyle picking with Crain’s vocals carrying the songs. Her semi-smokey voice subtly avoids some of the cutesy Pop vocal affectations that plague female Folk and she was a fitting opener for the show.
First Aid Kit: Solid blue light formed silhouettes of Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg. The sisters, just 24 and 21 respectively, took their places at opposite ends of the stage. As white lights filled in the details, three huge golden glitter-covered triangles appeared as a backdrop. Both sisters, clad in gold, sparkled as they started the show with “The Lion’s Roar” and flinging their hair as they saw fit.
Perfect sound highlighted the key selling point of First Aid Kit, the immaculately paired voices of the Söderbergs. Harmonies that perfect can only be explained by blood and a musical upbringing. And though Johanna sounded a bit under-the-weather at times, when the two locked into a dyad the blend was as smooth as Simon and Garfunkel in a velvet sleeping bag.
The touring version of First Aid Kit came with four pieces. Beyond the vocals, the most important piece was multi-instrumentalist Melvin Duffy on pedal steel guitar. Duffy’s playing was responsible for the gorgeous country feel of songs like “Waitress Song.”
The night was an equal assortment of songs from The Lion’s Roar and Stay Gold along with two covers and a tease of “Seven Nation Army,” which the two followed with a very gentle cover of Jack White’s “Love Interruption.” They also played a song from their first full length, The Big Black and the Blue, a fully unmic’d “Ghost Town.” Their two voices wrestled with the buzz of fans and the size of the room, but the chorus stood out as one of the more memorable parts of the evening. The short show ended with an under-rehearsed but beautiful cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Colorado Girl” and a perfect “Emmylou,” complete with a sing-along of the chorus.
The show was well produced but intimate enough at times to really feel the simple beauty of harmony and emotion shared between sisters.
Energy: A-
Musicianship: A
Sound: A+
Stage Presence: A-
Set/Light Show: A
Overall: A
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