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Tag: Warehouse Live Midtown

  • Sixpence None the Richer Brings “We Are Love” to Warehouse Live Midtown

    Sixpence None the Richer Brings “We Are Love” to Warehouse Live Midtown

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    Sixpence None the Richer with Andrew James
    “We Are Love” Tour
    Warehouse Live Midtown
    October 19, 2024

    I’m not saying the best thing about 1999 teen rom-com She’s All That is its use of Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me.” Of course not. Between the evergreen high school-set, “ugly” duckling-turned-swan plot and peak boyfriend-next-door Freddie Prinze Jr. coming off both I Know (and I Still Know) What You Did Last Summer, it would be bananas to make that claim.

    Never mind. The best thing about 1999 teen rom-com She’s All That is Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me” – which, for Sixpence None the Richer, may have been a “for better or worse” proposition.

    But let’s back up.

    The New Braunfels, Texas-born band, with a name cribbed from C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, began with Matt Slocum and Leigh Nash, who met in 1991 and released their first full-length record in 1993. They made a name for themselves within the Christian music scene, releasing The Beautiful Mess in 1996 and their self-titled third album in November 1997 – and yes, this one is the “Kiss Me” album.

    The song was famously picked up for film and television at a particular moment in the late ‘90s when contemporary Christian music (CCM) seemed to pop up in teen movies and all over the WB. I can only assume music supervisors remembered that the type of love and devotion found in CCM isn’t exactly dissimilar from the content of secular pop songs and started raiding the catalogs of Dove Award-nominated artists. (It’s a lesson they apparently forgot in the 20 years since Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life.”)

    The uber-popularity of “Kiss Me” cannot be overstated. In fact, I almost said that “Kiss Me” recently re-entered the cultural zeitgeist via Blackpink’s Lisa, who’s interpolated the song on her dance-y solo release “Moonlit Floor.” But the truth is, “Kiss Me” never really leaves. Through the years – which, for the band, includes more albums, lineup changes, and solo efforts from Nash – there is but one constant: The wide-eyed romanticism of “Kiss Me” remains addictive, like sugary drinks and candy.

    Fast forward to now, and Sixpence None the Richer has released their latest album, an EP titled Rosemary Hill, earlier this month and is currently touring to support it. This is what brought them to town, fresh off a sold-out show at Gruene Hall, to perform at Warehouse Live Midtown as part of their 25th anniversary “We Are Love” tour.

    The album and the tour are the first to feature the band’s 1998 lineup – Nash, Slocum, Justin Cary, and Dale Baker – in ages. For any casual fans (i.e., “Kiss Me” fans) who want to listen to the new record or check them out live, you should know one thing: “Kiss Me” is not representative of their catalog. It’s actually fairly far from indicative of their musical output, which leans toward the slightly darker and more introspective in lyrical content and more bite sonically – that bite, by the way, was on display from the go.

    The band took the stage around 9 p.m. to Björk’s epic “Overture,” the cover of Rosemary Hill projected behind them. They opened with two songs from their 1995 album, The Beautiful Mess: “Angeltread” and “Within a Room Somewhere.” Both served as firm reminders of the band’s alt-rock sensibilities, as did the next song, “Thread the Needle,” off their new EP.

    Nash led into “Thread the Needle” by saying, “I hope you’re cool with some new stuff tonight,” and considering the layered guitars and how beautifully it slotted in next to their prior work, it’s hard to imagine anyone complaining. Just in case, though, they moved into “a little familiar territory,” as Nash put it, with the band turning to their memorable cover of Crowded House’s 1986 hit “Don’t Dream It’s Over.”

    An arresting rendition of “The Tide” followed before the band launched into another song from their latest release – this time, the title track, which references the New Braunfels street Slocum grew up on. The easygoing nostalgia of the tune, however, was quickly overshadowed by the rhythmic banging that kicked off the next song, a cover of The Choir’s “Burning Like the Midnight Sun.” It should be noted that percussion extraordinaire – and member of The Choir – Steve Hindalong is touring with the band, and he got a lot of love from the crowd as he traded shakers for tambourines, a guitar for chimes, and more as the show progressed.

    The “kind of” Texas-themed and deeply emotional “Don’t Let Me Die in Dallas,” one of Nash’s solo tunes, released as a single in 2019 and included on her 2020 EP Get Happy, was next. Inspired by her father, it was a treat to hear Nash’s evocative voice on this song live. Amidst three songs from their 2002 release Divine Discontent – the always popular “Breathe Your Name,” “Melody of You,” and “Down and Out of Time” – they wove in another from Rosemary Hill, this time “Homeland.” Nash described it as “a love song for Texas,” and if it’s not a Hill Country anthem, I don’t know what is.

    The irresistible toe-tapper “Julia,” another new song, gave way to “very familiar territory” – this time, the band’s cover of “There She Goes” from Britpop predecessors The La’s, and, of course, “Kiss Me.”

    Nash said the band intends to continue touring and making more records and brought attention to the tour’s name, “We Are Love,” encouraging those in the audience to “spread that thought that no matter what your opinion is about anything. We’re still human beings, and let’s just love each other.” The message flowed into the evening’s penultimate song, “We Are Love,” and the encore, a hauntingly lovely performance of “Tension is a Passing Note.”

    Random Note No. 1: Andrew James opened the show with good humor and mellow songs.

    Random Note No. 2: Earlier Saturday afternoon, the band stopped by Cactus Music for an in-store event, and Nash offered an important reminder about record stores and Cactus Music in particular, saying to “make sure that doesn’t go away,” adding, “those are very special.” We agree, as we just named Cactus Music our Best Record Store.

    Random Note No. 2: Here’s a clue to the age makeup of the crowd: One female fan said, “My first concert was Newsboys.” Another replied, “My first concert was Hanson.”

    Setlist

    Angeltread
    Within A Room, Somewhere
    Thread the Needle
    Don’t Dream It’s Over
    The Tide
    Rosemary Hill
    Burning Like the Midnight Sun
    Don’t Let Me Die in Dallas
    Breathe Your Name
    Melody of You
    Homeland
    Down and Out of Time
    Julia
    There She Goes
    Kiss Me
    We Are Love
    Tension is a Passing Note

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    Natalie de la Garza

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  • The KingDom Reigns For One Night at Warehouse Live Midtown

    The KingDom Reigns For One Night at Warehouse Live Midtown

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    K-pop visited Warehouse Live Midtown last night in the form of The KingDom.

    The KingDom, a seven-member boy group under GF Entertainment, debuted as simply Kingdom on February 18, 2021, with the song “Excalibur.” The members are Dann, Arthur, Mujin, Louis, Ivan, Hwon, and Jahan. The names might cause a curious head tilt but not immediately jump out at you, so let me explain. Each member adopted the name of a historical monarch – Arthur, King of Britain and wielder of Excalibur; “Sun King” Louis XIV of France; Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor and Taj Mahal builder; etc. Thus, their name (and names).

    Appropriately, their fans became known as “Kingmakers,” and, in the interest of full disclosure, I am one. I’m a Kingmaker. KingDom’s Houston gig marks the sixth time I’ve seen the group live in the past year. I go to shows, I go to cup sleeve events, and I’ve participated in enough fan calls that I’ve lost count. And if you don’t know what a cup sleeve event or a fan call is, well, consider yourself normal.

    I’m pretty sure my introduction to The KingDom (then Kingdom) was a tweet that essentially called them K-pop for the Dungeons & Dragons-loving crowd due to their concept. Each of the group’s first seven albums was named for a member, each album’s title track cleverly referenced if not directly used instrumentation of that member’s era, and each title track’s music video featured a well-realized world gorgeously stylized according the era. Officially, the group is referred to as “cinematic idols,” and it’s not unwarranted. They’ve built a deep lore and have incorporated things like cliffhangers and post-credit scenes like major franchises.

    That’s where we started, the history-based first season of an originally planned four seasons comprised of 32 albums (you read that right), but where we are now is back in modern times, a parallel dimension we’ve been told, where the members are working to prevent an apocalypse. It’s a rebrand. The upside to rebranding to a much more standard K-pop concept with the group’s eighth mini album Realize, released in April, is that it makes the group more accessible (and familiar) to a wider audience of K-pop. And on Wednesday night, the group leaned right into it, opening their set with the title track off Realize, “Flip that Coin,” an energetic start that led right into another track from the album, aptly titled “ENERGY.”

    Though the rebrand is a big jump for existing fans, it allows the group to try and capitalize on the strength they’ve already shown in their B-sides. The more contemporary tracks that have filled out their mini albums, the ones not heavy with historical artifice, are often quick to become fan favorites, like “X-GAME” and “Blinder,” both of which made the 16-song setlist. It will also, hopefully, allow more growth from lyricists/composers Dann and Mujin, who seem to find ways to shine with their contributions to the group’s albums.

    “X-GAME,” an addictive banger if ever there was one, and the catchy-as-hell “GUNDAM” were next before the group left the stage to Mujin, who performed “Attitude” with Dann. It’s a new song (only ten days old today, according to Mujin’s SoundCloud) that, as far as I can tell, made its premiere on tour – and lucky us. It’s a fun, braggadocious song with an easy-to-sing chorus.

    Dann, Ivan, and Hwon showed off their vocals on a cover of Imagine Dragons’ “Believer” next (Dann and Ivan especially shined, with Ivan later effortlessly showing off his ability to hit a high note on command) before the whole group finally dove into the royal part of their catalog, grouped by release order and a little geography: “Excalibur” and “Long Live The King,” followed by “Ascension” and “Dystopia,” and then “COUP D’ETAT.” It’s worth noting that even stripped down, without the elaborate costumes and props — no swords, no fans, no ribbons, etc. – these songs still slap. The members are excellent performers and bring the songs to life through each song’s compelling choreography. Each song is blessed with memorable point choreography that all the just members ate up, though Arthur, in particular, seemed to be on the attack.

    click to enlarge

    K-pop group The KingDom bring their second U.S. tour to Houston’s Warehouse Live Midtown.

    Photo by Deborah Rodriguez

    Arthur brought a lot of power to his sharp gestures, which we got to see again on a dance cover of NCT U’s “Baby Don’t Stop” with Louis. The two complemented each other well, bringing their own unique style to the choreography. An irresistibly bubbly and bouncy cover of “Just do it” by Seventeen sub-unit BSS was next (performed by Dann, Arthur, and Jahan) before the whole group covered One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful.” I don’t know whose idea it was to do 1D but give them more money. The energy was fantastic, and the singalong vibe was contagious. The KingDom then closed their set with the ooo-along “Best Thing” and the joyful, jumptastic “Blinder.”

    Note No. 0: Fresh from Chicago and Atlanta and shocked by the Texas heat, Dann asked, “Is this the same America?” Unfortunately, yes.

    Note No. 1: I usually can’t stand the yee-haws that seem to be required at Texas shows, and though they were still present, it was less annoying than usual.

    Note No. 2: There was plenty of banter between the crowd and English-speaking Dann. He seems like a natural emcee, but the highlight is always that, as other members continue to improve their English skills, they find new ways to troll him – especially Mujin.

    Note No. 3: Anyone who said their feet didn’t hurt was a damn dirty liar.

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    Natalie de la Garza

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