On Nov. 20, The Foghorn had the opportunity to see The Cold War Kids in concert at The Fillmore. If you don’t know, The Cold War Kids is an indie rock band that was formed in 2004 at Biola University. Their most popular songs are “Hang Me Out to Dry,” “First,” and “Love Is Mystical.”
The group recently released their newest album, “New Age Norms 1,” on Nov. 1 and are currently on a 15-city tour.
At the San Francisco show, the audience consisted mostly of people in their 30s and 40s — I was by far the youngest person in the room. So, I felt slightly confused when I saw that the opening act was Samia, a 22-year-old alt-rock artist. She performed wildly and enthusiastically, dancing all over the stage in a very Maggie Rogers or Lorde-esque style. Her slightly raspy, melodic voice dazzled as the audience as they cheered for her in a “Great job, sweetie!” kind of way. Maybe this wasn’t the audience she was used to performing to, but she has real star potential.
After Samia got the crowd ready with her youthful, energetic set, there was about a 20-minute break during which the venue began to fill up. Then, The Cold War Kids came on, and I was surprised to see that they were not kids, or even close to it — they are instead a group of adults in their late thirties. Nevertheless, I enjoyed their performance. The lighting and set were impressive, and the band had an effortless and fun way of performing. My favorite part of the evening was when they performed “Hang Me Out to Dry” (a song I remember fondly from playing Guitar Hero) and lead singer Nathan Willett and bass guitarist Matt Maust jammed out with each other. Maybe the “kids” in Cold War Kids is still slightly accurate.
The Cold War Kids put on a great show, but my parents might have enjoyed it more. The real win of the night was watching Samia perform her heart out on stage at this always-beautiful venue.
The Cold War Kids performed with alt-rock artist, Samia, at The Fillmore on Nov. 20. Check out the Foghorn’s review of the show.
