Live Concert Photography: The Kills at House of Vans 5/18/18
Over the past handful of years, I’ve written quite a bit about the critically acclaimed and commercially successful rock duo The Kills, and as you may recall the act which is comprised of primary members Alison Mosshart (vocals) and Jamie Hince (guitar) can trace its origins to when each individual member were in different touring bands — at the time Mosshart was a member of Florida-based punk band Discount, while Hince was known for stints in Fiji, Scarfo and Blyth Power. Mosshart was touring the UK with Discount, when she heard Hince playing guitar in an upstairs apartment, and was so impressed that they had played around with some preliminary song ideas and sketches. Cajoled and influenced by a mutual friend, Lauren Antonina Herbert, Mosshart and Hince continued to collaborate together after Mosshart had returned to the States; however, eventually Mosshart relocated to London to collaborate together full-time. Initially, the duo went by aliases — Mosshart as V.V. and Hince as Hotel — as an attempt to break away from their pasts, and have a fresh start creatively and professionally.
With the release of five full-length albums 2003’s Keep on Your Mean Side, 2005’s No Wow, 2008’s Midnight Boom, 2011’s Blood Pressures and 2016’s Ash & Ice, Mosshart and Hince have developed a reputation for a scuzzy and swaggering, arena rock friendly, power chord-based blues and garage rock-inspired sound reminiscent of The White Stripes, The Black Keys and others — despite the fact that Mosshart and Hince have cited Captain Beefheart, PJ Harvey, LCD Soundsystem, The Velvet Underground, The Fall, Patti Smith, Suicide and Royal Trux as influences on their sound and aesthetic.
Last week, the renowned rock act were at House of Vans to appropriately cap off a celebration of women skateboarders of all ages and races. Sadly, I had to miss the skateboarding portion of the evening as I was shooting JOVM mainstay Monogem at The Knitting Factory; however, I managed to get to Greenpoint, just in time, to catch The Kills. Check out photos from an incredible, career spanning show below.
For these photos and more, check out the Flickr set here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmgpT6Go
