Altsounds - Cold War Kids - Manchester Ritz, 06/11/08 [Live]

Cold War Kids are not an especially fashionable band, so it’s hard to describe their poor timekeeping as such. Now had I not seen them perform live before, I may take this as a bad sign. However, Cold War Kids have never failed to impress me with their genuinely passionate live shows. Their tardiness is the only thing that even begins to disappoint. Opening with ‘Every Valley is not a Lake’ from recent sophomore album, ‘Loyalty to Loyalty’, they ease their way into their set, before pulling out the first big gun, ‘We Used to Vacation’, with guitarist Jonnie Russell and bassist Matt Maust now moving more fully in their recognisable stride, bumbling around the stage like the indie Chuckle Brothers on speed. Maust wields his bass like a pump action shotgun, his hand frantically sliding up and down the fret board as though driving intruders off his land.

Loyalty to Loyalty’s strongest track soon follows, as Nathan Willet leaves his piano stool to join Russell on guitar for ‘Something Is Not Right With Me’, and with drummer Matt Aveiro providing the pounding rhythm, it moves the most asses so far. Willett stays on guitar for the menacing ‘Every Man I Fall For’ before both he and Maust pick up spotlights which they shine into the crowd like lighthouses guiding the gently floating ‘Robbers’ over the sea of heads, which by now could be forgiven for feeling rather heavy on their shoulders. The track’s hypnotic qualities are not best suited to a live performance, but thankfully the caffeine hit of excellent brand new track ‘Coffee Spoon’ perks things up a little.

The vocals throughout are as strong as ever, both from Nathan Willet on lead, and Russell in support. Indeed, Russell is stronger in backing vocals than many other singers are in lead. Cold War Kids are indeed blessed to have been afforded such talents, and they use them wisely, never more so than on the brilliantly calamitous encore closer ‘Old St John’, with Russell beating just about everything except a chicken with a drumstick (whilst singing, playing piano, and emailing his mom - probably).

‘Hang Me Out to Dry’, rather unsurprisingly, is afforded the biggest cheer of the night, and the tracks from their debut album, ‘Robbers and Cowards’ are still the most warmly received, but it’s still relatively early days for ‘Loyalty to Loyalty’ yet, and it’s an album that you really need to persevere with. I get the impression that Cold War Kids genuinely love performing live more than most, and would still be exuding the same passion if nobody cared, and nobody came. Tonight though, in this packed old night club, this passion really helps the new songs to shine as brightly as the rest. Cold War Kids love all their songs in equal measure, and they love performing them for us. How can we not love them back?

To see the full performance, click below:

Channel Bee