Kodaline, w/ Good Old War at First Ave, Minneapolis (06 Oct 2015)

Good Old War

Good Old War is an acoustic duo from Philadelphia (currently featuring singer Keith Goodwin and acoustic guitar player Dan Schwartz), from the ashes of Days Away.



The audience, which were mostly young women, caused Goodwin to joke about how much he “like to play in front of ladies” (which immediately got the audience to cheer). Of course, there were some men in the audience, as one male fan responded by shouting out, “You’re my man! I love your tunes!”



There were plenty of fan favorite songs on their set, fans loved hearing “Better Weather” (from their 2012 album Come Back As Rain), but with a nice nod to Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” snippet at the end of the song.



Highlight of their set was a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia”, which they introduced as a “song you should all know.”  With a limited 30 minute set, the duo only played two newer songs, “Small World” and “Tell Me What You Want From Me”, taken from their latest album Broken Into Better Shape (Nettwerk Records).

Kodaline

We’ve been fans of, and have followed Irish quartet Kodaline, since they started coming to the Twin Cities over three years ago as openers; with an increasing fan base (especially locally), this was their third time in Minneapolis in 2015 alone! Clearly the band love playing here, we previously covered their earlier Varsity Theater (16 May 2015) and First Avenue (04 March 2015) shows.
With a sophomore album in tow, February’s Coming Up for Air (RCA/B-Unique Records), the band appropriately opened with the new ‘Coming Alive’ from the new album with its chorus lyrics “You can’t hide the feeling, you make it right” to a receptive early evening crowd.



Singer Steve Garrigan then took to mandolin for ‘Way Back When’, a song  that harkens back to their Irish childhoods, then went back to the lead song of their debut, ‘One Day’.  The rest of the band (Mark Prendergast –guitar/keys, banjo; Vincent May – drums, percussion; Jason Boland – bass, maracas, keyboards) mostly stayed in their places for the duration of their 80 min set, solidly anchoring the sound as the blonde Garrigan was front and center, often changing instruments.



After ‘Brand New Day’, the band veered briefly from the printed setlist, playing instead ‘The One’, a romantic song dedicated to newlyweds Phil and Fiona, with the band encouraging cell phones to be lit and swayed in the air. Top ten Irish single ‘Love Like This’ started as a whisper and delicate piano riff, quickly ballooning into the anthem it is, with May’s kick drum leading the way.



The new album’s first single ‘Honest’, one about lack of trust and betrayal, was bookended with the album’s fourth single, the gospel-inspired and redemptive ‘Love Will Set You Free’ (its video directed by Friends alum Courtney Cox) that ended their main set.



Show highlight came with the two-song encore, the band crowding at the front edge of the stage, off-mic, to do a hushed version of ‘Everything Works Out in the End’ to an enraptured audience of mostly females and couples that helped along with the chorus, and snapped along to the acoustic guitar.



The soaring ‘All I Want’ with U2-like “whoah-oh-ing” by the band and crowd alike, ended the night to loud cheers and bright smiles.  The Irish had landed in America again, and had gleefully come up for air in Minneapolis this night.



Remaining tour dates:

10/10/15 Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre 10/12/15 San Diego, CA House Of Blues 10/14/15 Anaheim, CA House Of Blues 10/15/15 Phoenix, AZ Valley Bar 12/02/15 O2 Academy Birmingham 12/03/15 Cardiff Great Hall 12/05/15 O2 Apollo Manchester 12/06/15 O2 Academy Glasgow 12/09/15 Belfast Belfast Waterfront 12/10/15 Killarney, Ireland INEC 12/11/15 Dublin, Ireland 3Arena 12/12/15 Dublin, Ireland 3Arena 12/14/15 O2 Shepherds Bush Empire 12/15/15 O2 Shepherds Bush Empire 12/16/15 O2 Shepherds Bush Empire 12/17/15 O2 Shepherds Bush Empire 02/08/16 Brussels Ancienne Belgique 02/09/16 Groningen De Oosterpoort 02/10/16 Hague Paard van Troje 02/12/16 Hamburg Docks Konzerte Disco

02/13/16 Copenhagen, Denmark Amager Bio 02/14/16 Stockholm Berns Salonger 02/15/16 Oslo, Norway Vulkan Arena 02/17/16 Berlin Huxleys Neue Welt 02/18/16 Warsaw, Poland Palladium 02/20/16 Prague Lucerna Music Bar 02/21/16 Vienna, Austria Gasometer 02/22/16 Milan, Italy Alcatraz 02/23/16 Bologna, Italy Estragon 02/25/16 Munich Theatre Fabrik 02/28/16 Zurich Volkshaus 03/01/16 Lausanne Les Docks 03/02/16 Lyon, France Transbordeur 03/04/16 Barcelona, Spain Bikini 03/05/16 Madrid, Spain Joy Eslava 03/06/16 Lisbon Coliseu Lisboa 03/08/16 Paris, France Olympia 03/10/16 Frankfurt Batschkapp 03/11/16 Luxembourg Den Atelier 03/12/16 Cologne Live Music Hall 03/13/16 Utrecht Tivoli De Helling