I could be wrong, but the tour they are on is their 1st headlining tour of North America, at least outside the Northeast.
How many people were there? I would guess maybe 100-150, but I'm not certain. There are Kindo fans in Minnesota as I know from the 2 most recent shows they played here (April of 2019, and August of 2017). I also have found some of their cds at Half Price Books and even Cheapo perhaps.
So I must mention the openers, which were all good, enjoyable and music I would go for hearing more of. Maybe most in particular, Rocco of the Snow, the 1st band. Rocco DellaNeve is the keyboardist from Kindo, but he has some fantastic music of his own.
I enjoyed Rocco so much, I ended up buying his record Prime Mover (not a Rush or Ghost reference).
I took from Rocco's music to be very catchy, dreamy and electronic rock. Almost like a cross between The Apples in Stereo and Timmy Sean.
Very well written, melodic and moody. It almost fits in with the "Indietronica" stuff I've written about, and I talked to him after the show and he kind of likes that term for his stuff. I am really digging it, so much, I can definitely see myself writing something more about Rocco of the Snow soon in here.
Adrian Bellue (not to be confused with Adrian Belew of King Crimson, Zappa, Talking Heads) does this really cool multi-sustained electrified acoustic guitar. It's all just him. Lots of tones and effects. Similar to say Michael Hedges or Tim Reynolds. He was crazy good. And he is planning on playing Minneapolis again this Fall (October? I thought he said).
I actually messaged him a few months ago when he was named for this tour, about the Adrian Belew thing, and he told me he may try and do a Bellue plays Belew sometime.
Sirintip is what I would describe as a Female Singer/Songwriter, but maybe with a bit of a Jazz and Soul element? But her show on Friday was JUST HER. Ala Imogen Heap, or Kimbra at The Cedar a few years ago, or even St.Vincent many years back at The Walker.
It was her and an assortment of keyboards and microphone effects.
Very moody, atmospheric and electronic.
She reminded me of those above and even say Jessie Ware at points.
The highlight for me was a song she dedicated to a friend who had died recently. Very melancholic.
Her music might do well with film or television, as it has a cinematic quality I enjoyed. Although I wonder what it would be like with a full band, which she said this is the 1st tour she's done without one.
And as far as Kindo, it was another fantastically energetic show with many highlights.
I Hate Music maybe being my favorite as I can't ever get sick of that song. The funky/catchy bass rhythm from Jeff Jarvis, while repetitive, totally works with a sick groove. Maybe even better live than on the studio version.
Waiting on the Wind (not to be confused with Walking on the Wind from Spock's Beard), which is 1 of the Patreon tunes that has not been released, was another great part.
Impossible World, Flowers by the Moon, Something in the Way that You Are and and Just Wait were tunes I don't think I had heard them do be before.
Hold Out and The Moments in Between and of course Hero were others that always sound even greater live. Smell of a Rose, Return to Me and Human Convention also never fail to work well live. Kind of live staples from Happy However After.
Gerald Castillo who plays percussion (Djembe? and some others) really adds a lot to their live sound. He actually had this great drum-off with Kindo's drummer Kendall Lantz, during the encore during Just Wait. It was a really great way to end the show.
Also great to chat with members of Kindo, including Joey finally. I told him about my love the tune "Poor and Hungry Kings" ; how it's now become 1 of my 5 favorite tunes and how much I wish more fans (not on the Patreon) could hear it. But I didn't ask him about when the next album was coming, etc.
He did tell me they are planning on doing 1 of those in-studio videos for Human Convention which should be great to see.
But they have 15? or more songs that didn't get released on Happy However After, and there's more coming. And as great as HHA is (and it is, as I put it #2 on my list of favorite albums 2018), I think many of the strongest tunes from the last few years, from Patreon, have yet to be released. Besides Poor and Hungry Kings, stuff like Ladybug and Citizen of Nowhere namely. And that tune they did on Friday, Waiting on the Wind.
So depending on schedules, maybe their next record will come in 2020 or 2021?
I also talked about The Dear Hunter with them, and how Nick Crescenzo on a recent podcast mentioned being a huge fan. I think it's not IF but just WHEN they finally tour with TDH. Because I would estimate like 50% of the TDH fans are Kindo fans.
Also cool to see some local fans, 1 being Tom from the band Earthrise. He was animated the whole show, getting the fans into it in the front.
the other being Matt O'Leary who I found has a great YouTube Channel where he talks about prog and indie rock among other genres. He has even done collaborations with Notes Reviews in fact.
I was able to chat with him and his wife Nina about a number of topics, mostly music of course as they are both huge/passionate music fans (and musicians themselves, which I guess was the original intent of their channel).
We talked among other things, about Kindo and what we could do to try and help them sort of breakthrough because we know they could have a larger audience if given the amount of exposure. My friend Nate mentioned to me how with Kindo, their music is almost too diverse for the masses, as catchy and melodic as it can be. Like Keane goes Jazz-Rock.
But I still wonder, given the right tour or a hit single or something, they could find a larger audience. I suppose my fanboy bias is included in wanting that so much; but I have seen this happen many other times; King's X, Three, dredg, etc, etc....The Dear Hunter and Dream Theater have kind of been exceptions to an extent. Baby-steps at their own gradual pace?
Set List
Let Me Be
Hold Out
Impossible World
Human Convention
Waiting on the Wind
Bullets in the Air
Romancing a Stranger
Return to Me
Something in the Way That You Are
Flowers by the Moon
The Hero, the Saint, the Tyrant, and the Terrorist
Smell of a Rose
The Moments in Between
Encore:
Feeling in the Night
I Hate Music
Just Wait
