A sold out Workman’s Club played host to First Aid Kit on Saturday night. On tour for their new album “The Lion’s Roar”, sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg headlined their first Dublin show and turned in a punchy set that drew mostly from their new release along with a handful of older tracks.
Samantha Crane supported and she opened the show with a half hour solo acoustic set of alt. country tunes. Although stating that she usually plays with a band, her stripped down performance showcased a powerful voice and solid songwriting.
First Aid Kit took the stage at 9:20 with Klara on guitar and Johanna on keyboards and autoharp backed by a drummer who really added a kick to their songs. Launching straight into tracks from “The Lion’s Roar” including “Emmylou”, “In the Hearts of Men”, “To a Poet”, and the title track, their wonderful harmonies were to the fore and they showed growing confidence as performers throughout an engaging set.
The highlight of the night occurred in truly magical fashion when the sisters came out from behind their microphones to the centre of the stage with just an acoustic guitar between them, bringing the crowd right down to a whisper before getting them to sing along to “Ghost Town” off their first record.
Aside from that quiet number, First Aid Kit rocked out plenty more than one could reasonably expect based on their records. The drummer really kicked it up a notch and they were brilliantly loose playing with abandon and power on several songs.
Leaving the stage at 10:25, they reappeared soon after with a newly engaged Samantha Crane in tow and did one of her tunes. The three of them really harmonised well together for the rest of the encore. The show closed with “King of the World”, the final track from the new album, which was a great finish to a fantastic show.