Kills’ singer — one of rock’s most dynamic performers
Indie-rocker howled and prowled for an emotionally fired show
Alison Mosshart hardly ranks as a household name.
Yet she’s one of the most dynamic performers in rock ’n’ roll, a point driven home once again during the fine show by her band, The Kills, Wednesday night at the Fox Theater in Oakland.
The 38-year-old Florida native was downright mesmerizing, exuberantly working the stage in a manner that was part Courtney Love, part Mick Jagger and part yoga instructor. She stretched and flexed, howled and prowled, ranted and raved, cooed and crooned as she led The Kills in nearly 20 songs over roughly 90 minutes.
The band came to Oakland in support “Ash & Ice,” its fifth studio album overall and its first since 2011’s “Blood Pressures.” The new album has gotten mixed re- views from a number of outlets, including Pitchfork and Spin, but I’ve found plenty to enjoy on it.
The newer songs also sounded pretty good live in the arena. The group — also featuring guitarist Jamie Hince, as well as two touring musicians — played more than half a dozen “Ash & Ice” cuts, including such standouts as “That Love,” “Hard Habit to Break” and “Doing It to Death.”
Performing in front of a tropical backdrop that showed three smoking volcanoes in back of a grove of palm trees, The Kills opened in strong fashion with the “Ash & Ice” cut “Heart of a Dog” and then proceeded to rock through “URA Fever” and “Kissy Kissy.”
The 48-year-old British guitarist was on top of his game, chugging through a number of powerful leads. Healso sang a bit and ... well, did I mention that he’s a really good guitarist? There’s a certain gritty thickness to his playing, enough so to almost make the notes feel like tangible entities.
Yet it was hard to devote much eye time to Hince
when Mosshart is always drawing our attention with her actions — pumping her fists in the air victoriously, as she belts out a moody indie-rock anthem, grooving like Gumby to the music, crooning on an old fan favorite, etc.
She also covered a lot of stylistic and emotional ground at the microphone. But she’s at her best when she creates a real sense of urgency in the lyrics. Perhaps that’s because her vocals tend to be buried in the mix, which favors pure emotion over lyrics.
Some might remember Mosshart from her second-best band — The Dead Weather, a garage-rock supergroup also featuring Dean Fertita, Jack Lawrence and, most notably, Jack White.
The band closed Wednesday’s main set with “Monkey 23,” from 2003’s “Keep on Your Mean Side,” and then returned for a four-song encore.
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