Monday, May 30, 2005; Page C05
Washington Post
Rilo Kiley at the 9:30 Club
Let's track the soaring career trajectory of indie pop rockers Rilo Kiley: Three years ago, the Los Angeles four-piece band played for a dozen folks at the now-defunct Metro Café. A follow-up gig at the Velvet Lounge drew an additional 20 fans. Two hundred fifty showed up in 2003 at the Black Cat, and Saturday night there was a full house at the 1,200-capacity 9:30 club. And bigger things are coming: In September Rilo Kiley will open for Coldplay at Nissan Pavilion. Who knows, next year Coldplay could be opening for them.
Judging by Saturday's show, the exponentially growing popularity is deserved. Joined by an additional guitarist and a trumpet player, the band creates a shimmering sound that is smart and accessible, exuberant and heartbreaking. Lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Jenny Lewis is the shining star, a mesmerizing vocalist with a range as wide as a desert and a voice that manages to be both intimate and detached. Behind her eyes-hiding bangs, she brings to mind a sneering Chrissie Hynde on edgier songs and Sonny-era Cher on poppier fare.
For 90 minutes Lewis and band mates Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder and Jason Boesel took the youngish crowd on a tour of the group's three albums. Sound problems muffled Lewis's voice at first, but were worked out in time for her slow-burning take on the torchy "I Never" and the sweeping singalong grandeur of "With Arms Outstretched." On the latter song, indie darling Conor Oberst and his Bright Eyes pals, still in town after two nights at the club, helped on the chorus.
Other gems included "The Good That Won't Come Out" and the title tracks to the band's last two albums, "More Adventurous" and "The Execution of All Things." Perhaps the only misstep was an ill-advised experimental jam band reworking of the previously perfect "Wires and Waves," from the first album, "Take-Offs & Landings."
For the finale, Oberst and, well, seemingly everyone else who was backstage joined Rilo Kiley for a joyous, nearly a cappella version of Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open the Door." Indie rock superstars reinterpreting a rock classic as a magical hoedown is just this side of brilliant. Maybe Coldplay should try it when it opens for Rilo Kiley.
-- Joe Heim
