First Aid Kit, Manchester Club Academy, 24th February 2012 9/10

I tend to set my expectations before a concert. In this case, I'd already seen the band (albeit as a support act), and their latest album was in the top 5 of my most recent album round up. I was therefore expecting to enjoy the gig, but I wasn't expecting to be amazed, since First Aid Kit are a folk duo. Now, I love folk music, but live, it can be a cerebral and controlled experience, not risky and exciting. The opener, Samantha Crain made really lovely sounds, but didn't push the boundaries. She was introverted at the beginning of her set, but gradually opened up, eventually leading us in a spirited sing along. Her voice is exceptionally characterful, reminding me of the sound of the wonderful Jamie Drake. Samantha is from Oklahoma, and her second album You (Understood) reached Europe only late last year; I recommend investigating her. She came back to the stage for the encores; by that stage the atmosphere was more fevered.

Such is the success of The Lion's Roar that this gig sold out and was moved to a larger venue, necessitating queuing to get a spot at the front of the stage. It's gone straight to the top of the album chart in First Aid Kit's native Sweden, and reached the top 40 in The UK and Australia, a remarkable success given its genre. They first gained recognition through a cover of Fleet Foxes Tiger Mountain Peasant Song on Youtube in 2008, which now has 2.8 million views. They look (and were) incredibly young on that video, and it's really quite touching to see how they've matured. In Manchester though, their choice of cover was Fever Ray's When I Grow Up (see set list below). 

The Lion's Roar should have given me a clue that this gig would be something special: the instrumentation is fuller than their 2010 debut The Big Black and The Blue, and it owes a debt to Americana, most evident in the name checking song Emmylou. Here they were joined by a drummer, who added welcome bass to the texture. The music may be more upbeat in The Lion's Roar, but lyrics are often sad, and their is beauty in its austerity. It's charming on disk, but the song structures are simple; some might say the Swedish duo are simply covering British and American folk. Live, it was something else though.

I can assure you that there was no lack of authenticity: the first thing to strike me was the fullness of the sound: it was rich with the most gorgeous harmonies. Younger sister Klara is the more extrovert, being lead singer and acoustic guitar player. Johanna acted as second vocalist and keyboard player, although as you'll see from the photograph below, she also turned her hand to auto harp. The highlight was undoubtedly the unmiked performance of Ghost Town, where the sisters moved to the edge of the stage, inches from me, and sung hauntingly, all the more powerful for its sparseness. They may be almost half my age, but they showed great maturity in their stagecraft, and were pitch perfect throughout.

Most striking, though, was their energy: after Ghost Song, the set moved into another transcendent plane. They cast aside any residual Northern European reserve and started to rock out, moving around the stage with surprising freedom. Admittedly, Klara didn't smash up her acoustic guitar, but they both put every ounce of their soul into the performance. This commitment, and their musicianship restored my hope for the future of music, after the challenge of the recent BRIT Awards (Adele excepted). I went away wondering what the pair will do next; it's quite possible as they mature they'll chose a different music path, yet I've faith as they find themselves, whatever they do will be authentic. Make sure you catch them live in their current form at the first opportunity.

Set List

This Old Routine

Hard Believer
Emmylou
Blue
In The Hearts of Men
Heavy Storm
New Year's Eve
Ghost Town
To A Poet
Wolf
When I Grow Up
Dance to Another Tune
I Met Up With The Ring
The Lion's Roar

Samantha Crane