First Aid Kit’s Klara Söderberg approached the microphone between songs Saturday night, happy, sweaty and stylish in a 70s inspired magenta suit. She scrambled to think of the last time her sister and the band had been in Philly. She landed on five years or so, and the crowd in The Fillmore seemed to agree. (Editor’s Note: Five years, five months, three days!)
By this point in First Aid Kit’s set it was abundantly clear that the sisters had reimagined themselves through their latest album Palomino and everyone couldn’t wait to experience what happened next over and over again. (Bonus points for working North Philly into “Ghost Town” during the set, the deep cut was appreciated.)
First Aid Kit | photo by Megan Matuzak for WXPN
The Weather Station opened up the night at The Fillmore on Saturday. Tamara Lindeman’s attention to complex, multi-instrumental collages, heart-straining lyrics and her hauntingly understated vocals came through. Very much a pianist at heart, Tamara sat down on the bench after “Marsh” and “Everything I Saw”, the first folky track off her first album All of It Was Mine from 2011.
The crowd favorite turned out to be saxophonist, based on the loud praise multi instrumentalist Karen Ng received throughout The Weather Station’s set. It probably had something to do with the long notes, playful melody and symbiotic fills she pulled off most notably in “Robber,” off Ignorance, a very popular showing from 2021.
The Weather Station ended their set with “Subdivisions,” a song that’s poetic in the sadness it inflicts, with Linedman exploring rippling vocals and relaying the fatigue of a love dissolving. The urge to just go for a drive and keep driving touched a relatable memory for the crowd in The Fillmore, all who were listening intently.
The Weather Station | photo by Megan Matuzak for WXPN
Soon, the main event rolled around, and Palomino, released in November of 2022, finally got its time to shine on stage. The sisters took it one step further re-released the album, titled Child of Summer Edition a little over a week ago on July 7th and pulled out all the stops for the live performance.
This latest album marks the beginning of First Aid Kit’s more disco-centric musings. “Fallen Snow,” “Ready to Run,” and “Angel,” played Saturday night at The Fillmore, all have plenty of high hat action, bass licks demanding to be danced to, one-sided love and sweeping strings. Palomino still harnesses Johanna and Klara’s beautiful melodies, the grounding effect of an acoustic guitar and the overarching theme of facing, and hopefully conquering, self doubt.
“We wanted it to be a happy record, but we failed,” Klara said with a mischievous smirk.
The skillful band behind a shiny, wavy partition fleshed out sisters Johanna and Klara’s sound with a litany of percussive instruments, a double-duty keyboardist and accordion player, and a back up guitar, all of which sang back up too. Johanna wielded only a bass, no keys, freeing her up to move and whip her hair around with ease. She and Klara skipped and floated from one side of the stage to another and just straight up had fun with each other more than before. It’s a new chapter for First Aid Kit, no doubt about it.
First Aid Kit | photo by Megan Matuzak for WXPN
There were several very tender, vulnerable moments shared between the packed house at The Fillmore, Klara and Johanna. Johanna, who recently became a mom, introduced the song “Everybody’s Got to Learn,” the first track off the Child of Summer version, warmly dedicated the song to her daughter, the joy of being a mom emanating off of her. First Aid Kit brought the energy down for an intimate and stripped down performance of “Songbird” in honor of Christine McVie, who passed away in November of last year and had a great impact on Johanna and Klara.
First Aid Kit closed out their show with “My Silver Lining” of 2014’s Stay Gold, and the driving force of the song electrified the Fillmore crowd who sang the song back to them with great passion. All of First Aid Kit took a bow center stage at the end, happy tears rolling down Johanna’s face, and as the melody of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” filled the Fillmore and the house lights came up, fans were swinging their hips and step-touching their way out.