The French Kicks (Bottom of the Hill, 22 January 2005)

It was a chilly Saturday evening in San Francisco as I arrived at the Bottom of the Hill. Surprisingly, there was a line outside the door full of kids waiting in the hope that the venue wouldn't fill to capacity. The place was packed and I was just checking to see whether I was at Arcade Fire again or something. Because, I would have never thought that the French Kicks would attract this many people.

So, yes, the place was packed. It was as if I was a lost cow in Coalinga - just going through herds upon herds of bodies. As I was trying to find my way through the place, Dios (or Dios Malos) were playing. I only have their EP, the really good Los Arboles EP. They played many songs that were, obviously, not on the EP and I found them rather enjoyable, although a bit repetitive. Repetitive in a sense that Kevin Morales' voice doesn't vary much and their songs blend some classy pop elements without any sort of "adventure" in any of their instrumentation. Probably the most enjoyable part of their set was when some woman decided to take Kevin's beer and splashed its contents on him, partially getting his equipment wet. I stiill don't know what was behind that fiasco, but apparently the band knew who this woman was.

On came the French Kicks a short time later. I couldn't believe how tall Nick was. I mean, I saw therm perform on Later with Carson Daly and knew he was tall, but he seemed taller than life on stage. I was excited to see this band, since their new album, The Trial of the Century, was a dramatic improvement over their debut release, One Time Bells. The band started off with their "hit" off One Time Bells "Wrong Side." This immediately ignited the crowd, and caught my attention. I was surprised that they played this song first, since it is a type of song that a band would save for their encore. The band were into it, with Nick playfully eyeing the crowd.

However, that was probably the best moment of the Kicks' entire set. The songs from that point just all blended together, and the band themselves weren't exactly the most exciting to watch on stage. "Don't Thank Me" was played well, but it failed to really catch my attention. "Oh Fine" did catch my attention, with Nick clapping his hands, but I was so inattentive after the opening drums that I almost fell asleep.

I think this review is really unfair on The Kicks because I really do think that they are an excellent band, with strong tunes. However, I may have to categorize them as one of those bands that you can just listen over and over again on your iPod but yet feel empty when you see them live. Although Nick makes a great effort in trying to entertain (the man looks like Topher Grace to me, but that's my opinion), the band just lacks the "ooomph" that I thought would be forthcoming.

Then again, I love Oasis and they don't do jack shit on stage. Eh, go figure.

Beer Rating: 3.5 Beers