FIRST AID KIT Headline Downtown LA’s Ace Theatre!

Last night (Thursday, October 12th) the Swedish sisters, Klara (vocals/guitar) and Johanna Söderberg (vocals/keyboards/Autoharp/bass guitar) better known as First Aid Kit performed to a sold out crowd at the historic downtown Los Angeles venue, Ace Theatre. For about an hour and twenty minutes, they played songs off their albums; “The Lion’s Roar” (2012) (Redeye) and “Stay Gold” (2014) (Columbia). They also sang a few new songs that haven’t been released yet from a forthcoming album.

It’s very clear right away just how much they both love music and love performing, but more importantly, how much they love performing with each other. Several times throughout the show, while they were strumming their guitars, the two would lean into each other and touch heads and move to the music together. Next to seeing them head bang their long locks during the show, this was equally hypnotizing. There was definitely a lot of sisterly love on that stage!  

After their opening song, “Wolf,” the crowd roared with applause and the “I Love You” chants began. One audience member even shouted something in First Aid Kid’s native language, Swedish, and the girls laughed and said it was a funny Swedish inside joke. From then on, the two bounced around between their two later albums. They belted out tunes “Master Pretender,” “The Lion’s Roar,” “In The Hearts Of Men,” “King Of The World,” “Stay Gold” and more.

Klara and Johanna are incredible musicians and the whole night really was a masterclass in performance. They seamlessly transitioned between each song and effortlessly harmonized with each other. Their voices were truly meant to be blended together. Their full band behind them were equally talented and perfectly supported the sisters.

Just before playing their new songs, “Fireworks” and “It’s A Shame” they told the crowd that they were excited to share new music and they hoped people liked the new material. “You Are The Problem Here” is a new track and unlike most of their music, it takes on an angrier tone. After the song, the ladies revealed that they wrote it after hearing about the Stanford rape case and how ridiculous the sentence was that was given to the rapist. First Aid Kit went on to say that the song really is for so many other men right now too, including Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and Donald Trump. This erupted the crowd into thunderous cheers and shouts of approval.

Then the sisters moved on to playing a cover of George Harrison’s song, “Behind That Locked Door” which they said they had never played before. It was hard to believe that as they perfectly executed it.

They beautifully wrapped up the night with their rousing beloved numbers “Emmylou” and “My Silver Lining.”