Headliner: Kill Hannah
Featuring: The Medic Droid, White Tie Affair, and Innerpartysystem
Tour: Hope For The Hopeless 2008
Venue: The Granada Theater - Dallas, TX
Date: Friday, 11/6/2008
The scorching sun beat down relentlessly all week on the DFW Metroplex, hitting triple digits on several occasions. By the end of the week, things hadn't cooled down. But when a band whose name touts both pretty women and murder in three syllables, one shouldn't expect a cold to descend upon a city, should one?
Kill Hannah came to their home away from home in Dallas, Texas, to remind the faithful crowd that turned out how to rock out Chicago style. Their headlining tour, Hope For The Hopeless, named after their most recent LP of B-Sides and rarities, is set to troll across the states in a wild ride-meet-dance party-meets-concert extravaganza, featuring some of Kill Hannah's favourite bands and buds as opening acts.
First up was the White Tie Affair, a pop-punk band with a penchant for (ironically) black ties, spiky hair, and sex appeal. Personally, I wasn't into them, though they flooded the eager crowd with attention and a typically fun time. I give them a lot of credit for being able to rock out on a very limited stage size. Eh, I'm harsh cause I'm not into their style; it seems very rehearsed and boring to me. But to each his own, right?
Next in line was Innerpartysystem. I had heard nothing about these folks beforehand, and thus had no idea what to expect. I certainly didn't expect an extremely electro-oriented explosion from this crazy quartet, who literally rocked the stage apart with an extreme light show. Epileptics beware, their pulsating multi-coloured lights are every bit as eclectic as their live set, which was inherently a 30+ minute electro dance party, with no banter or bull to clutter the music. Their set was certainly a surprise, though the voice amplifier on their mics produced a strange effect that made the vocals hard to hear. And the light show, though awesome, may have been a it too intense, but was certainly worth it.
The final opening act was led by another electro dance-rock group, this time the duet hailing from Phoenix, Arizona. I picked up on these guys something like half a year ago, and have been listening to them off and on ever since. So I expected a quality show, which they undoubtedly delivered. Somewhere between the steady beats, the wild synth noises, and a keytar, The Medic Droid performed top notch, enlivening the crowd into a wild dancefest.
After a night of electro powerpop bands, time in between shows filled with thumping techno, lead to the the stars of the night, Kill Hannah. Now, Kill Hannah are really like local celebrities in the Metroplex. Local alt-rock station 102.1 The Edge was one of the radio stations in the country to give Kill Hannah airplay when they first got their feet on the ground. That's around the time Kill Hannah exploded onto the music scene, and began touring internationally to critical acclaim.
Thus, my previous statement comes full-circle: Dallas is Kill Hannah's second home. And these Illinois natives weren't about to disappoint their loyal Lone Star fan base. Beginning their show with a fog machine and some of their hits from Until There's Nothing Left Of Us, Kill Hannah opened with steady slew of songs. That is, until they were halfway through, when they decided to treat Dallas to something a bit more special. The band began to reach into their repertoire to pull out their diamonds and gems; brand new material, as well as old school classics.
Kill Hannah played Home, from Hope For The Hopeless, as well as their brand new track, Acid Rain. Of course, we can't forget Hummingbirds The Size Of Bullets, an extremely old school jam, before finishing their pre-setlisted encore with their personal hometown favourite, Chicago. It was certainly an eclectic ride, as they finished their set with the song that put them on the map, "Lips Like Morphine," and if that didn't spoil Dallas' sweet tooth for Kill Hannah, I don't know what will.
And if all this wasn't a good enough outlook for the Hope For The Hopeless tour, this was only their fourth show! That leaves 29 shows all across the United States for an avalanche of awesome performances. You can certainly find Kill Hannah on Myspace, as well as their tourmates, White Tie Affair, Innerpartysystem, and The Medic Droid. You can also snag Kill Hannah's latest compilation album, Hope For The Hopeless, at your local retailer and digital outlet. The opening picture is brought to you by Muses Radio via Flickr, while the rest of the photos are courtesy of The Granada Theater.
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