The last time I saw Kitten play live was almost three years ago to the day when they were still essentially an unknown. They opened for The Joy Formidable at The Vic, and instantly turned the crowd into fans. It’s been fun to follow the band since then, seeing the band grow as artists and in popularity. Choosing Beat Kitchen to headline was a smart move: big enough to get a good crowd, small enough that you’re playing to a packed house.
They played a bunch of songs off their latest, and I think best, release Heaven Or Somewhere In Between. My favorite song, “Knife,” came almost all the way at the end of the set. I was surprised how true to the studio version they could get since a lot of the sounds on that song are not natural to guitar/bass/keys/drum. You can peep a quick 15 second video here.
There were also a couple covers: “Heroes” by David Bowie came up in the encore, while Prince’s “Purple Rain” was played about halfway through the set. The Prince cover was one of the things they did that originally endeared me to the band when I saw them the first time. There’s such a heavy 80’s influence in their sound that it’s nice to hear them pay homage to one of the greatest artists of that era (or any era, really. He’s Prince.)
At no point during the hour-plus set did I feel a loss of energy. Chloe Chaidez was constantly on the move, getting the crowd riled up. She was all over the place grabbing people’s hands in the crowd, walking on the audience, doing backflips…it was crazy. She held up her end of the deal, entertaining the audience until they almost couldn’t take it anymore. The rest of the band got their moment to shine at the end of the show: the drummer dove into the hands of adoring fans for a quick stage dive while everyone else in the band came to the front for a jam session.
You can pick up a copy of Heaven Or Somewhere In Between here.
