187775-cmj-2014-first-aid-kit-samantha-crain-photos

CMJ 2014: First Aid Kit + Samantha Crain (Photos)

First Aid Kit put out their beautiful and bittersweet Stay Gold this year and it's helped them draw bigger audiences including their even bigger and more golden CMJ show at the start of their Fall tour.
Samantha Crain

Swedish folk sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg of First Aid Kit had played New York City earlier this year at a sold-out show at Webster Hall. They had also played Webster Hall during CMJ in 2012 at a sold-out show supporting their album The Lion’s Roar but this year, during CMJ, the duo moved across town for a show at the larger Hammerstein Ballroom. This year saw the release of their third album Stay Gold a bittersweet work that I’ve listened to frequently. Having missed the earlier show, I had to catch them this go around and they did not disappoint. Their opener was Oklahoma singer-songwriter, 28-year-old Samantha Crain, another folk rocker that was a good match for First Aid Kit as the front row fans watched and listened to her very appreciatively.

First Aid Kit were accompanied by a drummer and a string quartet to bring their Stay Gold and older material to life on stage and their intimate, bittersweet songs drew the audience in. The intimacy of the show was enhanced by the confession that Johanna doesn’t like the time between songs, though it allows her to share jokes, like the one about a scarecrow winning the Nobel Prize. As they performed, through “Cedar Lane” and “My Silver Lining”, two of my Stay Gold favorites, as well as a cover of Jack White’s “Love Interruption”, an acoustic “Ghost Town” and into the closer “Emmylou”, the sisters beautiful voices shone with the finesse and beauty of folk singers more than twice their age.

Samantha Crain:

First Aid Kit:

First Aid Kit setlist:

Stay Gold

Blue

King of the World

In the Hearts of Men

Waitress Song

Shattered & Hollow

Cedar Lane

Ghost Town

My Silver Lining

Seven Nation Army / Love Interruption (Jack White cover)

Heaven Knows

Wolf

[break]

Love Like That Again

A Long Time Ago

Master Pretender

Emmylou

First Aid Kit Tour Dates (w/ Samantha Crain through the end of November):

Tue 11/04/14 Orlando, FL The Beacham

Wed 11/05/14 Tampa, FL The Ritz Ybor

Thu 11/06/14 New Orleans, LA House Of Blues

Fri 11/07/14 Dallas, TX Granada Theater

Sat 11/08/14 Austin, TX Auditorium Shores

Mon 11/10/14 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory

Wed 11/12/14 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern

Thu 11/13/14 Oakland, CA Fox Theater

Fri 11/14/14 Portland, OR Roseland Theater

Sat 11/15/14 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre

Mon 11/17/14 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex

Tue 11/18/14 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre

Thu 11/20/14 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue

Fri 11/21/14 Plymouth, WI Bradley Theatre

Sat 11/22/14 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre

Thu 12/04/14 Trondheim, Norway Byscenen

Fri 12/05/14 Oslo, Norway Den Norske Opera

Sat 12/06/14 Bergen, Norway USF Verftet

Sun 12/07/14 Stavanger, Norway Stavanger Konserthus

Tue 12/09/14 Helsinki, Finland Savoy Theatre

Wed 12/10/14 Helsinki, Finland Savoy Theatre

Wed 01/14/15 Bath, United Kingdom Bath Forum

Thu 01/15/15 Cardiff, United Kingdom St. David’s Hall

Fri 01/16/15 Birmingham, United Kingdom Symphony Hall

Sat 01/17/15 Manchester, United Kingdom O2 Apollo Manchester

Mon 01/19/15 Edinburgh, United Kingdom Usher Hall

Tue 01/20/15 Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom Newcastle City Hall

Wed 01/21/15 Nottingham, United Kingdom Royal Concert Hall

Fri 01/23/15 Cambridge, United Kingdom Cambridge Corn Exchange

Sun 01/25/15 Norwich, United Kingdom Univ. Of East Anglia LCR-Union

Tue 01/27/15 London, United Kingdom Eventim Apollo

Sun 02/08/15 Linkoping, Sweden Konsert & Kongress

Tue 02/10/15 Huskvarna, Sweden Folkets Park

Sun 02/22/15 Eskilstuna, Sweden Lokomotivet