Delivering several songs from their latest releases, the celebrated Swedish duo impressed fans Friday during a Grand Rapids tour stop. The review, photo gallery and set list.
First Aid Kit: Sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg on stage Friday. (Photo/Mark Newman)
SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTO GALLERY, SET LIST
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First Aid Kit is the cure for whatever ails you.
If one singing voice can soothe the soul, two delivered in harmony can be positively rhapsodic and restorative. So when Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg combine their vocal talents, it’s a prescription for aural magic that is just what the doctor ordered.
Over the years, their vocal elixir has had a profound effect on many listeners — Emmylou Harris, Paul Simon and Patti Smith are among those who famously have been moved to tears in their presence — and their ability to reproduce their recorded refrains in a live setting is refreshing in a time when Autotune and pitch correction devices seem still the rage.
Now in their 16th year as a singing duo, First Aid Kit made their first-ever visit to Grand Rapids when the sisters and their band appeared before a sellout crowd at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park on Friday.
Touring in support of their fifth studio album, “Palomino,” First Aid Kit delivered a 19-song, 85-minute set that blended pop, folk, country, and even a little rock in a well-paced show that often fell somewhere between ABBA and Fleetwood Mac. The sisters paid tribute to the latter by acknowledging last year’s death of Christine McVie with a cover of her “Songbird” and they affirmed the influence of the former by leaving the stage to a recording of “Dancing Queen.”
Vocal Power: First Aid Kit boasts mesmerizing harmonies. (Photo/Mark Newman)
First Aid Kit featured two new songs from the recently released deluxe edition of last year’s Palomino: “Everybody’s Got to Learn,” a number that Johanna introduced as being about her daughter who was born three years ago, and the title track, “Child of Summer,” which seemed more sedative than stimulant after being debuted the previous night.
Set highlights included “Rebel Heart,” which they turned into a near-headbanger; “The Lion’s Road,” the title tune from their 2012 album; “A Feeling That Never Came,” a lovely, layered pop ditty that got the crowd dancing and clapping along; “Emmylou,” their terrific tribute to a few of their heroes; and “Out of My Head,” a glorious, galloping melody that started a four-song encore that included a cover of Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again.”
The night was opened by an abbreviated set by The Weather Station, an eclectic, enigmatic Toronto group led by Tamara Lindeman, whose fragile, vulnerable voice lost little of its power to the open air of Meijer Gardens. It seemed a shame that their impressionistic sounds lasted barely 25 minutes.
Next Up at Meijer Gardens: Andy Grammer and Devon Cole perform at 7 p.m. Sunday. The show is sold out.
PHOTO GALLERY: First Aid Kit at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Mark Newman
SET LIST: First Aid Kit at Meijer Gardens
Palomino
Angel
It’s A Shame
Fallen Snow
Stay Gold
Everybody’s Got to Learn
Rebel Heart
The Lion’s Roar
Child of Summer
Songbird
Ghost Town
Hem of Her Dress
A Feeling That Never Came
Emmylou
Fireworks
Encore:
Out of My Head
King of the World
On the Road Again
My Silver Lining
Copyright 2023, Spins on Music LLC
