Kaleo with Dawes at GrindersKC, Kansas City MO (2026-07-18)

“Way Down We Go” for a decade now–

Still the best Icelandic (by way of Austin, TX) alt-rock blues band you’ll ever hear, Kaleo is back on the road, celebrating the tenth anniversary of their breakthrough album and platinum best seller, “A/B.” making a stop on warm humid night in the crossroads at GrindersKC.

We previously caught them last September in Minneapolis, on the final date of their Fall run.

With minimal fanfare or stage effects (other than a little smoke and some precise lighting), the band mostly let their music do the talking, playing the album’s songs in their entirety, though not back-to-back nor in running order, preferring to stretch out a few of the album’s songs and work in other and newer selections throughout, which kept the set interesting and less predictable.

The quartet’s line up (Jökull Júlíusson; Davíð Antonsson; Daníel Kristjánsson; Rubin Pollock; Þorleifur Gaukur Davíðsson) has remained intact through their decade plus together as well, further cementing their musical chemistry together when playing live and all individually shining as a part of the whole.

Júlíusson’s distinctly recognizable vocals can shift from a soft versed ballad, to more rumbling and soulful on an uptempo blues number with he and the band often making it all look effortless, though you can see the concentration in the member’s eyes (bassist Kristjansson in his stage right corner looked intimidating as he focused), intent on giving a fine performance.

Opening with a cinematic track from last year’s fourth studio album Mixed Emotions, “Run No More” began the set with the hopeful notion that “one day, we will rise again” then moved into “Still No Good,” one of the new tracks added to the 10^th anniversary deluxe edition (and a variation of the finished “No Good”), available now.

The crowd came more to life to sing-along early on, during “All the Pretty Girls” and we noticed the lighting after the first few songs, turning more muted and with more red tones, adding a more mysterious and slightly foreboding setting, to some of the middle section songs.

2016’s “Automobile,” a peppy little number, confused us only in the direction the car was headed in the lyrics. Júlíusson sings about driving a fast car in California but mentions San Diego, then San Francisco, then Sacramento (which indicates driving north) then wraps the song saying he might just go down to Mexico (which is due south). Other than that, it’s a fun track and we chalked it up to someone seeing the Golden State for the first time.

Last year’s “USA Today” addresses the senseless ongoing gun violence in this country, seen through the eyes from someone not from here, which probably makes much less logic of why it continues, and the slower “Vor í Vaglaskógi,” sung in Icelandic, was both touching and thrilling.

2021’s “Skinny” sang about the pressures of staying young and pretty in a chaotic world and the main set would end with A/B’s opening track, “No Good.”

The band returned quickly for their encore, with Júlíusson, sporting a KC Royals jersey, sitting down behind a piano with the band’s logo glowing, for their defining hit, “Way Down We Go”, which not only topped the Billboard Alternative and Rock Airplay charts here, but went to number one in such diverse places as Greece and Russia as well.

“Glass Houses” from A/B (also familiar to older gamers due its inclusion in Rock Band4 and Madden17) led to their early song and a live staple, 2013’s “Rock ‘n’ Roller” which would end the night with one last dramatic musical upper cut.

Most People
Mister Los Angeles
If I Wanted Someone
When My Time Comes
A Little Bit of Everything
When the Tequila Runs Out
Crack the Case
Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries to Relax
All Your Favorite Bands

Before the headliner, Los Angeles band (and one of our favorites) Dawes, opened with a sampler platter of songs, due to a more shortened set, vs. when they headline. Led by guitarist Taylor Goldsmith and his drumming brother, Griff, we were glad to see them as a quartet band, adding bassist Z Lynch and keyboardist Adam MacDougall, who both shined during the jam and the extended parts of songs.

Initially, we weren’t sure why Dawes would play as support, but when Taylor asked the crowd how many had not heard of them and/or were seeing them live for the first time, it made sense that this run might help grow their name awareness and fanbase, and Taylor thanked the Kaleo fans for welcoming them in.

The opening “Most People” was stretched out to allow some additional jamming and Taylor to further encourage the crowd on a still-sunny heated evening, and he later professed gratitude for the venue staff for concocting customized drinks on the menu in their honor- “Roll with the Punch(es)” (which wasn’t played), and “(When the) Tequila Runs Out” (which was).

No one today can turn a common lyrical phrase like Goldsmith and his conversational vocals mixed with the band’s jamming, easy-going Laurel Canyon sound, won over most first-timers in the crowd, and undoubtedly gave the group many new fans.

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Together, Kaleo and Dawes made for an enjoyable evening of honest, relatable, and most of all, authentic music – Kaleo with its emotional bigger-sounding blues rock played with a technical and concentrated skill, and Dawes with their detailed character sketch lyrics and warm West Coast musicianship and ability to stretch, loosen, and carry a song sometimes far beyond the limits of its recorded version.

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National / International act coming through the Midwest / Kansas City area? Please email details to johnc@weheartmusic.com with a good lead time to be considered for Show Preview and Show Coverage consideration.