Live Review: Kings of Convenience & Feist

Live Review: Kings of Convenience & Feist

Hail To The Kings (and Queen): Aidin Vaziri | Kings of Convenience are often described as Norway's answer to Simon & Garfunkel. And while, yes, they are a mismatched duo that harmonizes beautifully over serene folk songs, it's hard to remember the last time Paul Simon closed a show by jumping around on stage like a wounded flamingo singing, "I haven't read a single book all year and the only film I saw I didn't like it at all." Feist, the smoky-voiced Canadian singer who opened the show, shared a similarly twisted charisma. The languid, lovelorn torch songs that make up her major label premiere, "Let It Die," spell crossover success so huge that in a year from now she could, in all probability, be arriving to these shows in her own private helicopter. She met the crowd as a complete unknown but by the third song had them singing along to a number about a one-night stand, encouraging them with commands like, "Give it everything this time!" Her confidence was startling considering the vulnerable music she makes -- until you find out she got her start in a Calgary punk band, she used to share a flat with X-rated electro singer Peaches and she made a living rapping under the name Bitch Lap-Lap. Like Kings of Convenience, weirdness is her secret weapon.