Rilo Kiley tears sh*t up at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul (September 16 2025)

Rilo Kiley at Palace Theatre (Sept 16, 2025)

Rilo Kiley Setlist

1. The Execution of All Things
2. Spectacular Views
3. Paint’s Peeling
4. The Moneymaker
5. Dreamworld
6. I Never
7. It’s a Hit
8. Close Call
9. Does He Love You?
10. Ripchord
11. The Good That Won’t Come Out
12. Silver Lining
13. With Arms Outstretched
14. A Better Son/Daughter
15. Portions for Foxes

    — Encore —

16. More Adventurous
17. Frug
18. Pictures of Success

Tour Dates

• 17 Sep The Astro Amphitheater Omaha, NE
• 19 Sep Riot Fest 2025 Chicago, IL
• 21 Sep Sing Out Loud Festival 2025 St. Augustine, FL
• 23 Sep The Pinnacle Nashville, TN
• 24 Sep Red Hat Amphitheater Raleigh, NC
• 26 Sep The Eastern Atlanta, GA
• 27 Sep Asheville Yards Asheville, NC
• 28 Sep Avondale Brewing Company Birmingham, AL
• 08 Oct Aztec Theatre San Antonio, TX
• 09 Oct The Bomb Factory Dallas, TX

Holy shit!  I almost wussed out on this show, as I’m old and was still recovering from my weekend of travel to see Fazerdaze in Chicago, oh and Spoon and The Pixies were there too.  I’m so glad I didn’t skip out, though, because Rilo Kiley put on one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time.    

Now, on to the show!  Oh, wait, let me set the scene first. 

This was my first show at the Palace Theatre in downtown St. Paul, which played host to  Dean Johnson and headliner, Rilo Kiley.  Doors were at 7:00 with Dean going on at 8:00.  I got there a couple minutes before 8:00 and there was quite the line-up, so I missed the first few songs of the opener.  The Palace holds 2,500 but feels cozier to me.  There are two levels of balconies (I think) above the general admission floor.  I had GA so got my Hamm’s and made my way to the floor.  I found a nice spot at the back of the first level of GA so was able to lean against a railing and was still close enough for my tastes. 

Now, on to the show!

Once again, I found myself not knowing anything about an opening act and, once again, I was pleasantly surprised.  Dean Johnson looks (at least from 200-feet) like he could’ve just stepped off of a horse he had ridden in from Wyoming.  You know, tired, thirsty and dusty.  No wait, I mean he looks like a cowboy, yeah that’s it.  Turns out he’s from Seattle, the son of a powerful mayonnaise magnate from Camano Island, who has spent the last 20 years tending bar and honing his craft.  Reading the article in the link just above, helped me appreciate some of his stage banter.  It describes him as a perfectionist, which puts his comments to the crowd about messing up a lyric or chord into context.  I certainly didn’t notice any mistakes.  Of course, as I said, he was new to me.  Maybe everyone else was laughing to themselves about his mistakes.  Why is everyone so mean?  He has a really nice voice, which tends towards falsetto at times.  His songs are pure Americana and his accompanying band were all professionals; their sound was tight.  I don’t have a complete setlist because he didn’t tell us the names of his songs, just what they’re about, and he played a new song so setlist.fm can’t help us.  One song that stuck out for me was “So Much Better”, which he told us is about the exaggerated effects of electroshock therapy on the song’s protagonist and its set to a lovely tune.  The band played for about 45 minutes and did themselves proud.  They were an opening band worth seeing.  Thanks, Mr. Johnson.  I hope you enjoy the ride back to Wyoming.  I mean Seattle.     

The set change took about 30 minutes, which seemed like a long time.  I texted my buddy Josh to pass the time.  You remember Josh, we were college roommates, and we went to the Fazerdaze show the night before.  You would remember him if you saw him, anyway, it was a little after 9:00 and the asshole was getting into bed.  Even after listening to some lovely music, I was jealous.  Well, let me tell you midway through the first song that jealousy melted away and turned into whatever emotion made me think “you fucked up Borton!”  Joy?  Does that sound like joy?  Yeah, let’s go with that.  OK, pausing snarky humor to get real.  Rilo Kiley absolutely killed it.  They brought so much energy, which passed through the crowd and was amplified back to them.  Nearly every song had the audience singing along, like we were at a freakin’ song-along.  I am a big fan of the band so knew every song but even if I didn’t, the reaction of the crowd would have been enough to make me enjoy the show.  Oftentimes at concerts, I find myself counting songs and calculating how much time is left because even when I’m enjoying a show, I’m thinking about being done with the show or “collecting it”.  Not the case with this one, I was able to just disconnect and fully be present for the show.  It reminded me of my experiences at the Turf Club seeing Papooze and Peelander Z.  All three of these shows quieted the voices inside my head that are normally telling me I should be doing something else productive because, I guess, even Catholic guilt was impressed with these shows. Jenny Lewis (WTF?! Jenny Lewis was in Postal Service?) is an exceptional performer who has the ability to tell a story with her body language and inflection that’s so impressive live.  The highlight of the show, for me, was “With Arms Outstretched”, off of 2002’s Execution of All Things.  Jenny had the audience sing the last minute or more of the song, and the audience nailed it!  It felt like everyone in the entire theatre was singing and everyone knew the words.  Good times.  There was fun banter with Jenny and Blake Sennett describing their ties to St. Paul and the region.  Jenny even got her brother, who was sitting way up in the balcony, involved.  Her voice is amazing, the band’s sound is fantastic, and every song they played felt like a unique, enhanced extension of the version on the album.  As I said before, so glad I made it to the show; the afterglow will stick with me for a while.  With all the shit going on in the world right now, that’s something I will gladly take.  Thanks Rilo Kiley, hope to see you again sometime.