Rilo Kiley, the Orpheum, Aug. 4, 2003
This show happened after we finished compiling content for the 2003 Best of the Bay issue, but before last year´s issue actually hit the street. Still, no quality club show of the last 11 months has put such a spectrum-spanning assortment of people together in as friendly an atmosphere and to see such a great band. Most all-ages shows are billed as such to let younger fans know that (a) they will be allowed in the venue, and (b) it´s ¨their kind of music.¨ And the Rilo Kiley gig certainly had its share of kids — the band records for Saddle Creek Records, an imprint whose flagship act, Bright Eyes, is huge with the underground and underage set. But someone a little older (say, a 31-year-old rock critic for the local alt-weekly), who might usually be the oldest person in the room at most all-ages shows, could feel right at home on Aug. 4. The Los Angeles act´s infectious blend of indie rock and alt-country twang isn´t exactly the aural equivalent of Trix; WMNF-88.5 FM co-sponsored the show, and its wildly age-varied listeners came out in force, as well. The result was a house packed with friendly fans from their teens to their 50s who respected not only the bands onstage but each other as well. Twenty-one-year-olds did shots with soccer moms, straightedge hardcore kids picked up flyers for other MNF-sponsored shows, and the three acts that played received an appropriately appreciative response. In a pop-culture environment that seems to try its best to divide and conquer, it´s pretty rare to see such a disparate audience at a club show. Rare, and very, very cool.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.
