Rilo Kiley (The Grand, 18 June 2005)

Thus far, I've seen Rilo Kiley twice and although they put on solid performances during those times, the show didn't really astound me or make me say, "Wow! Now this is a good band!" The likelihood of that happening was minimal for last night's show at the Grand, especially since this venue is just way massive and uncomfortable to be in. Why? I have no clue, but it just is. Kind of like the Concourse - it's just awkward.

Thus, with that in mind, my expectations for Rilo Kiley were pretty modest to begin with. I love all their albums, especially The Execution of All Things, so my like for them isn't casual by any means.

Feist opened up for Rilo Kiley and the crowd seem to like her a lot more now compared to her opening slot for Kings of Convenience. It sure helps to have a Juno award under your belt and some publicity, but she put on a good set for the 3 songs that I saw her perform. It wasn't that impressive, but it was not as boring or as dissonant as most other opening bands. She stood alone on stage, using an electric guitar for the songs I saw her perform. I assume she used an acoustic guitar as well, since there was one present by her side.

Rilo Kiley came on shortly thereafter to a thunderous ovation. They opened up with my favourite track from More Adventurous, "It's a Hit." The horns opening up the set livened up the crowd, kind of like how a bugle would rowdy up the French Foreign Legion. A couple more songs from More Adventurous were played, including "Portions for Foxes" and "Does He Love You?" I love "Does He Love You?" live because of Jenny's prolonged "I" towards the middle of the song. Tonight's version is way more upbeat and loud compared to the previous versions I saw.

More songs from More Adventurous were played, but Rilo Kiley also played 2 or 3 new songs as well. The first one was a typical Rilo Kiley song (yeah, I know, really good description), but the clincher for this song is when Blake, Pierre and Jason all sang in unison while sharing one mic. It's one of those cutesy moments of their set, and there were a lot of them. The other new song had the same gimmick, and it was quite good.

The only parts I didn't like from the Rilo Kiley set is when Blake sang. I don't know about his voice. I hate it. It's not bad, but it's far from good either. It's just so weak, and when he tries to make it stronger, like in "Ripchord," it just doesn't sound good.

However, Blake redeemed himself ten fold during Rilo Kiley's encore where they covered a Pete Townshend's "Let Love Open the Door." This song was done by Rilo Kiley, The Brunettes and Feist all on stage - so this super group formed. I've never heard of this song before, and I thought they were saying "Let Milo Open the Door," which made sense to me at that time. Blake sang lead vocals for this song, accompanied with some light percussions and him playing a ukelele. His voice and that ukelele reminded me of Tiny Tim, but that was quickly erased once the accompanying vocals were emitted.

Overall, this is probably the best Rilo Kiley show I've seen thus far. Of course, I wish they'd play more songs from Take Offs and Landings or at least play "Paint's Peeling" or "Science vs. Romance." Well, they did play "The Execution of All Things" which more than made up for any missing gaps in their set.

Beer Rating: 2 Beers