This Is War Tour
Emily Kinney
Dylan Gardner
Adam Tressler
June 1st, 2015
Wooly’s
Des Moines, Iowa
As amazing as the Kansas City show was the night before, it was tonight’s show that I was really looking forward too. Wooly’s is a much larger venue than the Record Bar, meaning, of course, more people would be attending this show. Another bonus for tonight’s concert was that Kinney’s touring guitarist, Adam Tressler, had made his was back from Ohio and would be opening the show.
For those of you not familiar with Tressler, this young man has an amazing stage presence for such a new talent. Tressler, as a solo act, utilizes looping and on stage recording similar to the likes of Levi Weaver and Zoe Keating. Tressler’s crowd interactions were spot on, joking with the crowd about finally playing Iowa, and having the chance to wear his favorite shirt; vintage Iowa Hawkeyes.
Once again, Dylan Gardner’s set pumped the crowd. For some reason though, during the 3rd song of his set, his drummer and bass player abruptly left the stage. Gardner looked around at the empty stage, shrugged, and asked the crowd “Where’d my band go.” We later find out that Zombie Burger wasn’t sitting too well with them.
Gardner’s inclusion of Arctic Monkeys’ Do I Wanna Know had the crowd bouncing, and singing along. Gardner put on another high energy set that left the crowd wanting more.
The thing about seeing the same artist on back-to-back nights of a tour is that sometimes it’s the same show, just a different venue. This would not be the case with Kinney’s performance tonight.
As bright and cheerful as Kinney was during her show the night before in Kansas City, tonight’s Des Moines show was cranked up to a whole other level. Kinney’s grin was still genuine and assuring, but her aura was much brighter tonight. I know that sounds odd, saying her aura was brighter, but you could tell that she was ready to dazzle the crowd with another flawless show.
Tonight’s crowd was also more receptive to Kinney’s request for participation during Julie, snapping their fingers and screaming “Take home Julie” during the song’s chorus.
Once again, tonight’s crowd was silent as church mice as Kinney sang Dad Says a cappella.
Kinney’s crowd interaction in Des Moines was more in depth than during the Kansas City show the night before. She joked with several members of the crowd, and told a few more stories. “This next song,” she told the crowd, “I wrote for someone special. I had moved to New York, and met a boy and we started dating. He’s a really famous producer, and has worked with a lot of great musicians. One night I invited him over to be there while I wrote and recorded music. I was petrified about finding out what he thought about my music. The next morning we woke up, and I asked him. He told me, ‘Your music is really cute, but I think you should stick to acting because you’ll never go anywhere.'” The crowd booed, waiting for Kinney to continue. “So I broke up with him.” Then the crowd cheered their approval. Kinney wrote This Is War for that ex-boyfriend.
At one point, after the band finished playing Last Chance, one crowd member shouted “The Walking Dead misses Beth!” “That’s the perfect segue for these next few songs,” Kinney replied. She told the crowd how much fun she had filming AMC’s highest rated show, and how much she missed all of her co-stars. “Especially Norman Reedus,” one fan shouted. “Yes,” Kinney chuckled, “especially Norman.” Kinney continued by telling the packed house how much fun she had playing Beth Greene because she had turned into such a strong character despite her obstacles, and because of Beth’s love of music. Kinney then led the crowd in a sing-a-long of Waxahatchee’s Be Good, and Tom Waits’ Hold On.
Not one to let the good times end though, Kinney closed her show with Masterpiece, and encored with Rockstar.
And if a perfect show wasn’t enough, Kinney made the time after the show to take selfies with about a dozen fans who’d waited outside the venue, and sign autographs.
Overall, I must say I was very impressed with Kinney’s live show. So many artists today over use studio magic to enhance their vocals, and rely too much on pre-recorded audio during their live shows. Kinney used neither, and is proving to her fans that she is the real deal.
