First Aid Kit @ Albert Hall, Manchester, 20 Sep

Live Review by Chris Ogden | 29 Sep 2014

Tonight's opener, Jo Rose, has thankfully recovered from his on-stage collapse at the start of this tour, although his guitar hasn’t. Having borrowed a friend’s for the evening, the Manchester native shyly thanks the locals for their support before playing acoustic strums from his subtle debut album Spurs. Rose’s set shows an intriguing willingness to let the quiet ring out, with Terrible Liar hinting at Elliott Smith-style sadness – he even chucks in a Leonard Cohen cover to prove his storytelling prowess.

First Aid Kit seem to be taking the title of their new album, Stay Gold, seriously. Stepping out in glittery jacket-pants and dress combos to a luxurious gold-leaf backdrop at the Albert Hall, Stockholm folk sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg aren’t afraid to evoke the classic in their music or their outfits. While they aren’t aiming for ABBA circa 1974, their soulful harmonies and swooning country shuffles make for a similarly dazzling spectacle.

Starting with Stay Gold’s striking title track and pimped  out with a full band, the duo show off their power as a four-piece. The expansion works wonders on Waitress Song’s restless pedal steel and the Lykke Li pop punch of Shattered & Hollow. When a rapturously received My Silver Lining proves surprisingly sparse, the weathered words behind the sisters’ miraculous voices feel as yet unlived in as a new IKEA kitchen.

The second half rollicks along though, with a rocky take on Jack White’s Love Interruption and a honky tonk Heaven Knows. As a moody interlude turns into haunting waltz The Lion’s Roar, Klara’s leadership imbues the night with unusual sharpness as a searing sun spotlight beams down from overhead. The night ends of course with Emmylou, a triumphant singalong that sets people dancing on the balconies. Personal insight will come in time; for now, so long as we’re singing with them, the Söderbergs are happy.