After a lengthy hiatus, The Kills released God Games in October 2023, their first album since 2016’s Ash & Ice. On tour supporting that new album, The Kills, the supremely cool duo of Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince, stopped at Washington DC’s 9:30 Club on Wednesday night, the first of two dates at DC’s storied venue. They tore the place to the ground.
The Kills are keeping things simple on this tour, with the casually dressed Mosshart and Hince strolling onto a barely decorated stage—adorned only with instruments and a sparkly silver curtain. Grabbing their instruments, they launched into “Kissy Kissy,” from 2003’s Keep on Your Mean Side. The crowd couldn’t have been happier. The tone was thus set for the rest of the night, which wove old favorites like “U.R.A. Fever” with new material like the gritty “New York.” Songs from God Games made up half the set.
While The Kills’ rhythm section, as it were, was simply a drum machine, nothing about the performance felt phoned in or incomplete—Hince unleashed his guitar fury on the crowd while looking to Mosshart to howl into the microphone. Mosshart is a tornado of energy and swirling blonde hair, and when she’s not tangled up in her guitar cord or knocking her mic stand around, she paces back and forth on the stage like an animal. Studying the audience, she smiles warmly at the crowd before hitting everyone with her sexy vocals. It was a stripped down, but a hot and satisfying set from beginning to end. Over 20 years since the release of their first album, The Kills’ knockout chemistry is reflective of a decades long friendship and musical partnership.
As a side note, I’d like to shake the hand of the person who manages to resist the tractor beam of Mosshart’s intense charisma; from where I sit it would be a nearly impossible feat. I hadn’t seen Mosshart perform live since she toured with the Jack White project The Dead Weather which, from the vantage point of 2024, feels like a thousand years ago. She’s still the coolest of the cool—it’s impossible to look away. Her stage presence is as hypnotic as anything I’ve seen in my concert going life. It didn’t take too long for some gobsmacked dude standing against the barrier to yell out “I think I love you!” Bro, join the club.
Acting as support on this tour is Heartworms, a project led by Jojo Orme. The band took the stage, marching in place for a few seconds (presumably a nod to Orme’s known fascination with the military) and launched into their set. For forty minutes, the crowd at the 9:30 Club was treated to Heartworm’s goth/post-punk sound. Heartworm’s debut EP, “A Comforting Notion,” was released last year, garnering rave reviews for its gothic darkness and comparisons to Siouxsie Sioux.
The Kills wrap up the US leg of their tour in Oakland, CA on March 16. From there the duo hit Europe in May.
HEARTWORMS
THE KILLS SETLIST
Kissy Kissy
U.R.A. Fever
Love and Tenderness
103
New York
Going to Heaven
Baby Says
Tape Song
Wasterpiece
Kingdom Come
Telephone Radio Germany
Black Balloon
God Games
DNA
LA Hex
Doing it to Death
Future Starts Slow
Encore
Better Days
My Girls My Girls
Sour Cherry
