22nd November 2012, HMV Ritz
8/10
The lovely Söderberg sisters, Johanna and Klara, played HMV Ritz as part of their biggest sell-out tour to date. Formed in 2007, First Aid Kit came into the limelight off the back off their latest album The Lion’s Roar. First Aid Kit’s music is centered around their impressive vocal talent and reflects what they feel to be the timeless and truthful qualities of uncommercialised folk music.
Through jokes and a conversational style, the Swedish duo instantly formed a connection with the audience. ‘Hard Believer’ hits hard their atheistic tendencies, dedicated to Richard Dawkins: “I see you’ve got your bible your delusion imagery”. The sisters also dedicated ‘Our Own Pretty Ways’ from their first album to feminist punk band Pussy Riot as a mark of solidarity, which several members of the crowd seemed to appreciate as they continued to shout ‘Pussy Riot!’ throughout the gig. The band then announced: “we’re going to abandon modern technology” for their song ‘Ghost Town’. The unplugged version boasted their beautiful harmonies, creating an enchanting and dreamy, almost spiritual, aura that encompassed the whole venue. However, the mood of ‘I Met Up With the King’ completely contrasted.
The energetic and lively punk thrashings of the band led them to vigorous head banging, and the song ended with a snippet from The White Stripes ‘Seven Nation Army’ as a dedication to Jack White, who got the band noticed. ‘Emmylou’ was the most energetic, crowd-pleasing song in the set, and the majority of the room was singing along. ‘Emmylou’, a song about singing, lists the bands musical influences, which are more explicitly shown in their covers of Fever Ray’s ‘When I Grow Up’ and Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘America’. Despite minor technical fault with the keyboard, the gig was highly successful and there felt almost a sense of euphoria in the air afterwards. Their pure, unadulterated music was a delight to witness.
