First Aid Kit with Samantha Crain at First Avenue in Minneapolis, 11/20/14

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Klara
I found out about two days in advance that First Aid Kit were playing in town, and grabbed some secondhand tickets for probably way too much money. I had missed them on their last pass through town, in June, because I was busy with the frog season -- and I really regretted it. I wasn't about to miss out again, and I hadn't caught a FAK
show since they opened for Bright Eyes in Dallas on the People's Key tour.
Johanna

Samantha Crain opened. She's a singer-songwriter from Oklahoma who I had seen play in Norman, sometimes with John Calvin. I enjoyed her set -- and her Oklahoma stories. It felt almost like being back home, except there was still no good Mexican food. Alas. The thing that always strikes me about Samantha Crain is that she has tiny hands for such a good guitarist.

I had been living under a rock, I guess, because I didn't realize First Aid Kit's "new" album had been out for about five months. As a result, I got to hear most of the album for the first time live, which is a great way to hear new music.

I was also psyched to see FAK as a headliner. They've gained a lot of popularity since the first time I'd seen them -- it was a packed house and an enthusiastic crowd. There was a lot of dancing and singing. The ladies of FAK are also charming, funny hosts. They'd brought along a drummer, from Sweden, and a multi-instrumentalist who handled the electric guitar, the pedal steel guitar, the
mandolin, etc.

The band told an interesting story about forging their friendship with Jack White, and launched into Seven Nation Army. It was a pretty rocking cover, for as long as it lasted -- after the first chorus, they stopped and admitted they didn't know the rest of it. I was a little let down, but they started back up with another Jack White cover, "Love Interruption". I hadn't heard the song before, but it was also a cool cover. They have a talent for covering songs you would never think could work with their style, in a really memorable way. If you get some time, check out their cover of R.E.M.'s "Walk Unafraid" or Simon and Garfunkel's "America".

Drum solo after Wolf Mother
A highlight for me was the unplugged version of "Ghost Town" from their first album. They turned off the microphones and used only an acoustic guitar for the performance. People were surprisingly well-behaved, and everyone's attention was on the stage.

I took a video, and you can see it below.














Here's the setlist -- I didn't get it, but the person who did let me take this photo.
Setlist, photographed with a stranger's hands.


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