My expectations for Miike Snow’s sold out show at Portland’s Roseland Theater Monday, April 11th, were low, as it seemed their pop music was that of touting epic relationship-love. Suffering from heartache and the backlash of rash text messages, the last thing I wanted was to endure people sing about love all night. Almost instantaneously though, the passionate infectious hurrah of Miike Snow fans took me over.
And when electro-soul, power couple, Kaneholler took the stage, their enthusiasm and that of the crowd finished me off. Exuding sex appeal, Kaneholler, performed deep, witty, danceable beats. So often it seems the supporting act isn’t in the same groove of that of the headliner, not so in the case of Kaneholler.
Kaneholler almost stole the show until Andrew Wyatt took to the stage. The crowd went wild as Miike Snow took their places and played with dialed expertise. Wyatt commands, performs, dominates and croons while the complex musical arrangements of Miike Snow blend together into a simplistic, tribal, danceable epic.
The masterfully mixed, complex beats jived seamlessly, as the four members danced between the multiple instruments they played, seeming as though there were actually six on stage. The audience dug every song. Bodies never stopped grooving and the roar of the crowd grew as all sang the catchy lyrics.
That being said, it seems the list of songs that stood out is almost too long to include, “Song for No One”, “My Trigger”, “ Cult Logic”, “The Heart of Me”, “Heart Is Full”, “Genghis Khan”, and the list goes on.
An energetic charge, the night boomed. Thank you Miike Snow for opening a musical space that pulls the heart past all the frivolous ideas we impose on ourselves about that story called love.
Miike Snow is nothing less than pure wizardry and showmanship in the live arena. They finished with “Animal” and the streets of Portland vibrated as the crowd poured out of the Roseland humming and/or singing it – myself included.