Cold War Kids to Put on Free Show in Downtown Miami This Thursday

Free concerts are a rare thing. Any time we hear about one, we think: Sure, but what's the catch? We want to see free live music just as much as the next guy, but we don't want to have to give away our social security number in the process. Well suspicious...

By Lee Zimmerman

June 8, 2015

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Free concerts are a rare thing. Any time we hear about one, we think: Sure, but what's the catch? We want to see free live music just as much as the next guy, but we don't want to have to give away our social security number in the process.

Well, suspicious music fans, rejoice, because Pandora and Lexus have reached into the deep canyons they call wallets to give us an exclusive live performance by Cold War Kids at Lou La Vie in Downtown Miami. And for the lucky ones who RSVP at this link fast enough, it will all be for free.

With five studio albums to their credit, along with various EPs and live sets, Cold War Kids have a sound that is quirky yet accessible, reflecting the drive and delivery of a band with confidence and creativity. It’s the sort of thing necessary to garner the kind of critical kudos those in the know bestow only on the most worthy. The band — Nathan Willett (vocals, piano, guitar, keyboards, percussion), Dann Gallucci (guitar, percussion, melodica, keyboards), Matt Maust (bass guitar), Joe Plummer (drums, percussion), and Matthew Schwartz (keyboards, piano, guitar, percussion, vocals) — released its latest LP, Hold My Home, this past October and found itself elevated to the upper tiers of indie adulation in the process.
Rolling Stone, which we all know is, ahem, a supreme bastion of taste and trendiness, described one of the band's early efforts as "A gorgeous piece of geek-rock soul... Bravo, kids!,” while L.A. Weekly said, "Imagine the rawness of The White Stripes on day one. Or what Spoon would sound like at a church camp making music with found objects.”

Supremely rocking, urgent and upbeat, it’s anthemic rock for the club-going crowd, an approach that has helped them win a following of diehard devotees as a result.

Bearing that in mind, Thursday’s concert should be something special, to say the least. For one thing, it’s free. For another, given the band’s steady ascent to stardom, it may be one of the last opportunities to see Cold War Kids up close and personal. And besides, what else do you have to do on a Thursday night? Come on, surely your Netflix account can wait one more day.

Cold War Kids. 8 p.m. Thursday, June 11, at Lou La Vie, 1444 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Admission is free; RSVP here.

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