Virtual gigs: First Aid Kit and friends – Leonard Cohen tribute

Welcome back, virtual gig goers! (I’m going to pretend this is a thing… if you build the virtual stadium, they will come…)

Last time, we were treated to the joys of Norway’s finest, Katzenjammer. This week, we’re staying Nordic as a bunch of Swedes pay tribute to a Canadian.

First Aid Kit put together this show in 2017, a few months after the death of Leonard Cohen, who was old enough to be their grandfather at least. It’s since been released as a live album, Who By Fire (Spotify link here: https://open.spotify.com/album/4QtoNIqTWR3e5NVb833Bj2?si=g13iHwDbQvSnQ3VV587s-w).

It’s pretty much a greatest hits package, featuring Suzanne, Bird on a Wire, Sisters of Mercy, Famous Blue Raincoat and many more from the Söderberg sisters and friends – including the wonderful Frida Hyvönen, and Annika Norlin/Hello Saferide who sings a beguiling, wonderfully fresh version of Hallelujah.

Not all the guest spots are quite as compelling, and the staged readings of Cohen’s poems interspersed among the songs feel a bit like a devised theatre piece by some talented drama students (I say this as a former drama student). But at its best, this is a magical show: songs don’t come better than these, and the arrangements are stunning, topped off by celestial vocals and trademark exquisite harmonies.

Do watch the whole show if you get a chance. But if you just want a taster, here’s the finale:

Virtual gigs: Katzenjammer, Hamburg 2012

Apart perhaps from my daughters, there’s nothing I love more than live music. I don’t go to gigs nearly as often as I’d like to, but luckily there’s now a vast library of full sets freely available on YouTube. True, it’s not the same as being there, but on the plus side, the sound and picture quality is often excellent, and there’s nobody talking just behind you or pushing past on their way to the bar. Plus you can enjoy it from the comfort of your own sofa.

So I thought it might be fun to do a virtual gig series. Weekly/fortnightly/monthly, depending on how it goes.

I’m going to start with a ’Spill favourite. Most people here will be familiar with Katzenjammer, but might not be aware that they’re even more fun live than on record: swapping instruments, harmonising exquisitely, playing a massive bass balalaika painted like a grinning Cheshire cat and generally giving off enough good energy to power a small city.

This show comes from Hamburg in 2012, and is possibly the most joyous 86 minutes on YouTube.

There’s usually an element of FOMO when it comes to watching these virtual gigs, but in this case I was fortunate enough to see them play a near identical set at Concorde in Brighton at around the same time. My jaw literally ached the next day from the grin on my face all night.

If any genies are reading: world peace, a stable climate and, pretty please, a Katzenjammer reunion.