Good band...bad lights
Kill Hannah have had a rough time over the last few weeks. While the band was touring Europe, somewhere around the Swiss Alps, their tour bus burnt down, taking most of the bands possessions in its wrath but luckily leaving the lads unharmed. With determination on their minds, they refused to give up the tour and continue on. One stop ahead of them was London’s Astoria 2.
For reasons unknown, guitarist Jonny Radtke was unable to make the nights performance and a few other European tour dates. Standing in for him on this part of the ‘Hope For The Hopeless Tour’ was Tom Schleiter, the guitarist from Chicago power pop band Powerspace. You would never be able to tell a different guitarist was present from their previous tours or records, so well done Schleiter on an excellent job.
Kill Hannah has a way of powering through a set with energetic authority, demanding the attention of the crowd, challenging them to dance, bounce and scream as much as humanly possible. The crowd takes in the energies given off by the band, they sing along, move to the music and cheer their hearts out to ‘Crazy Angel’, ‘Boys and Girls’, ‘Believer’ and ‘Love You To Death’ to name but a few. There was the occasional more settled tune and a few new numbers, but even with these the crowd got revved up and ready to roll.
Whether it was the band or the venue that chose the lighting settings for this gig, what a disappointing job they did. It was an amazing set the guys performed, yet the horrendous lights, as if car headlight beams shining deep into your iris, were all too powerful. Many individuals, myself included, had to flinch and occasionally turn away from the stage so to not be blinded. It was hard enough to see the guys perform on the stage due to the darkness of the lighting and the green and red beams criss-crossing the stage, but to add blinding flashes of bright light, I think I may have spent the majority of the gig protecting my eyes.
Despite the disappointing lighting, the crowd was glad Kill Hannah didn’t postpone or cancel the UK leg of their tour due to a mishap or two. They put on one heck of a performance and didn’t let the bad times get them down.