Strange Babes
White Sea
The Naked and Famous
KC Live
May 30th, 2014
Kansas City, Missouri
Never having the chance to experience a concert at KC Live in Kansas City’s Power and Light District, I was very impressed with the set up. KC Live is an outdoor venue. The giant courtyard opened from the back doors of a dozen different bars and restaurants. I was told capacity for KC Live is around 3,000 people and by the looks of things when I arrived an hour before Strange Babes’ set, the place was going to be packed. KC Live hosts free concerts every weekend, weather permitting and tonight’s weather was perfect.
The gentle rain had stopped a few minutes prior to Strange Babes’ taking the stage. A rainbow could be seen in the sky above stage right as the band played. The crowd started to swell and I would guess twice as many people showed up to see the band as opposed to Omaha’s sold out show. Strange Babes’ unique beach rock style of music sounded bigger than it did when I saw the band a few days prior at The Slowdown. The outdoor venue amplified their music and intensified the sound for each band. The quintet from New Zealand was given a warm welcome for the Kansas City crowd. Dusk began midway through the band’s set and allowed them better access to utilize the stage lights. Sadly though the big screen still played a baseball game behind them and even with the volume of the giant LCD screens muted, I could tell that a minority of the crowd, especially those sitting in the patio bars, were there to watch the game and not see a concert. That being said, there were cheers and applause after each of the band’s songs. Looking across the crowd, I did see numerous people singing along with the song’s they new and watching attentively throughout Strange Babes’ set. Finishing their set, the band thanked Kansas City for giving the band it’s time on the stage and, this being their first U.S. tour, appreciated the opportunity to play.
As Strange Babes began their tear down, members of the tour’s crew and the trio who forms White Sea’s live band began their set up. Thankfully the venue shut off the giant LCD screens as soon as the baseball game was over, creating a better atmosphere for enjoying White Sea’s performance without the distraction of “who’s on first” or “what’s the score”.
The crowd was enthralled by Morgan Kibby as soon as she stepped on the stage. Kibby, wearing a full length black gown accented in gold designs, took her place behind her keyboard and said a simple “Hello” to the crowd. The crowd’s response was far from typical. Screams of approval erupted from all corners of KC Live. Kibby struck the opening chords of Ex-Pat and, looking behind me and into the crowd, I could see more than few fans shivering at the sound of her ethereal voice. Ex-Pat is a perfect track to open White Sea’s set. The emotionally visceral song focuses specifically on Kibby’s enchanting voice. Kibby would tell me after the show that it has been two years since she had last spoken to her ex that inspired the song. “I was standing in an alley, by a dumpster, and broke up with him over the phone. Relationships are all about give and take, and conversation. If there’s no compassion, there’s no point in wasting your time on someone who really isn’t worth your time and energy.” As Kibby sung the last word of the track, the boys cut into electrifying rendition of Flash that had more than a few fans bouncing. The ending of Flash bled seemlessly in Warsaw. Tonight’s show was free, as are the majority of KC Live’s concerts. It’s expected that people will show up knowing that there’s a concert but not necessarily knowing who’s playing. That being said, the crowd’s reaction to White Sea’s music was one of the most energetic that I’ve ever seen at a concert. When Kibby hit the extended high note during the final bridge of Future Husbands Past Lives, the screams and cheers of approval coming from the crowd were deafening. It was brilliant to see Kibby smile and blush on stage, obviously not expecting such a huge reaction from the crowd. Closing the song, Kibby graciously thanked the fans for the chance to play for them, noting that it had been several years since she’s played in Kansas City with her “other band”.
After a short pause, the band shredded into the heavier live version of It Will End In Disaster. Looking over the crowd of nearly four thousand fans, I saw only a few people recording the show on their phone or camera. Nowadays that’s a great accomplishment for a band. With so few people watching the show through their camera lense, that means that people are actually paying attention to the show and not worried about recording it. It was standing room only but people still managed to bounce around and dance during the band’s set. The energy of White Sea’s drummer was matched ounce for ounce by the crowd. The band’s energy level was raised by the fan’s reaction to their music during NYC Loves You and continued to surge as Kibby and her boys cut into They Don’t Know. Nearly the entire crowd was clapping along with the intense beats of They Don’t Know. For the last three song’s of White Sea’s set, it looked as though the crowd was on the verge of breaking into a mosh pit.
Kibby then adjusted a few dials and knobs on her keyboad, grabbed her microphone and stepped to the front of the stage for their final song, Prague. I’ve been to hundreds of concerts in my life, but it’s rare that I’m able to attend a show were so many of the crowd show their appreciation for the bands by actively expressing their interest. As Kibby would sway left or right during Prague, I noticed hundreds of fans mimicing what Kibby would do on stage. As Prague came to a close, Kibby thanked the massive crowd for allowing them to play, and the band graciously bowed before exiting the stage.
As the boys in the band helped with tear down, Kibby made her way to the merch table to meet with her fans. For a second time this week, I got the chance to talk to Kibby after White Sea’s set. I told her about the reaction I’d gotten from the photos that I’d posted from the Omaha show a few days prior, and how so many people complimented her on glamerous look. I thanked her for not taking not taking the route that so many other female musicians had taken with their wardrobe choices. “There’s fine line between dressing sexy and being sexy,” she told me. “As a woman, you really have to be comfortable with your own sexuality, whether you’re own stage or in the real world.” Kibby is the epitomy of glamor both on stage and “in the real world”. We also briefly discussed the current attention span of today’s youth and society. “We’re a 140 character generation now. It was great to look into the crowd and not see people on their phones or filming the concert.” She went on the elaborate by saying “there are so many times I see half the crowd glued to their texts or taking photos and videos. It was great to see so many people actually paying attention to what we do.”
As I hugged her good bye, another fan walked up to us, and put his hand on my shoulder. “I saw this guy singing along to every word of every song,” he said, shaking Kibby’s hand, “you’ve got some great fans.” I think that was the best complimet I could have gotten and it was great to hear someone say that to one of the musicians who inspires me.
Setlist:
Ex-Pat
Flash
Warsaw
Future Husbands Past Lives
It Will End In Disaster
NYC Loves You
They Don’t Know
Prague
After White Sea had left the stage, the crowd began to get antsy. As soon as the exterior lights dimmed, the crowd burst into cheers and screams. The crowd’s roar was near deafening when vocalist Alisha Xayalith walked on stage and the band performed A Stillness. Just as Xayalith was about to sing the first words of Hearts Like Ours, drummer Jesse Wood motioned “cut” with his right hand across his throat and stopped playing. The entire band looked confused as they also stopped playing. Alisha walked to the back of the stage and leaned over the drumkit seemingly to ask Wood what went wrong. As Wood slowly stood up from behind his kit, Xayalith walked back up to the mic and said, “We broke something. We’ll be right back.” A few minutes later, the band returned to the stage. Wood walked up to Xayalith’s mic, “I knocked my shoulder out of socket but don’t worry, we popped it back into place.” There were a few gasps fromt he crowd but Wood is a rockstar and pushed through the pain or resetting his shoulder and the band took to Hearts Like Ours with a screaming crowd in front of them.
The band’s energy level was kicked up a notch from their Omaha show. David Beadle was more animated as he switched between stage left keyboard and his bass. While Aaron short still stuck to his corner of stage right and his keyboard, co-founder Thom Powers matched Xayalith’s energy level ounce for ounce.
It’s a wonderful experience to watch a band feed off of a crowd’s energy level as much as the crowd feeds off of the band’s. Powers’ vocals coupled brilliantly with Xayalith’s on each track that featured the duel vocals. A brilliant light show brought an infinite level of intensity to TNAF’s live set. The stage was flooded in deep shades of red during Frayed and Grow Old, while the more cooling blue and purple highlighted Punching In A Dream and Young Blood.
Tonight’s performance showed that years of constant touring have allowed TNAF to perfect their stage show.
After having worked the crowd into a frenzy for over and hour, Xayalith and Powers thanked Kansas City for their support and the band left the stage. Much to the approval of their fans, the band returned to finisht heir set with a three song encore. After Young Blood, the band thanked Kansas City again, and left the stage for a third time.
Having a late bus call, many of the tour’s band members made their way back to the merch table to meet with fans. If you happen to catch TNAF on their next tour, find Beadle and ask him to do his ass shaking dance like he had in Kansas City. It’s adorable.
Setlist:
A Stillness
Hearts Like Ours
Girls Like You
Rolling Waves
The Sun
Frayed
I Kill Giants
Grow Old
All of This
Punching in a Dream
Waltz
No Way
Encore;
The Mess
To Move With Purpose
Young Blood
