The Kills in Oakland

Last Friday night The Kills were playing at the Fox Theater in Oakland, so we went to check them out. I'd never seen them live before but had heard of crazy (and most likely drunk) antics going down at shows in the past (ala Lollapalooze '98), so I was interested to see what we were in for. The Kills is a two person rock band, with American signer Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jamie Hince. Hince just got married to supermodel Kate Moss. I'm not a huge fan of Moss, but I saw their wedding photos in the September issue of Vogue and it looked like it was an absolutely gorgeous event. Mosshart is also the front woman from Jack White's band The Dead Weather.

We got to Oakland a little early and went in search for a place to grab some dinner before the show. We ended up a punk diner next to the theater, Can't Fail Cafe. It was tasty, I definitely recommend going there is you're in the area. I had their special Meter Maid Margarita, which was a strong margarita muddled with cucumber and jalapeno. Sounds odd, but it was one of the best margs I've ever had. Chris got the breakfast burger and I got the Sante Fe, both of which were flavorful and fairly priced. After that, we headed to the show. The Fox Theater is definitely becoming one of my favorite places to see shows. They keep it up well and with all the levels, you can usually see the stage from wherever you end up, even if you're 5'5 like me.

We only caught the last song of the first opener, Mini Mansions, but I liked it and will definitely show up for them next time they're on tour. The second opener was Eleanor Friedberger, a folky yet funky singer with a great voice. Maybe it was just the hair, but she reminded me a lot of Zooey Deschanel. Then it was time for The Kills. Their stage was simple but awesome. The backdrop was solid leopard print that changed colors with the lights throughout the show. I had a slight girl crush on Mosshart before from photos I'd seen. She seemed like a bad ass with great fashion sense and her voice was awesome when I saw The Dead Weather from a distance at Coachella two years ago. I think my girl crush is going to continue because she's an amazing performer. She was dancing around stage the whole time and was magnetic to watch. Hince kept up the energy on his end and they seemed to have great musical chemistry. They played all my favorites from a variety of their albums. All in all, a great show.