There was nothing but a feeling of love and community in the air the evening of Friday, Nov 15th at the Hollywood Palladium, as Rainbow Kitten Surprise (RKS) fans filled the venue with their energy. On the heels of their first album release in six years, LOVE HATE MUSIC BOX, RKS has hit the road with the opening support of songstress, Madi Diaz.
The evening was filled with an eclectic mix of musical styles that began with Madi Diaz taking the stage. As a singer/songwriter, she takes you on a journey with the lush storytelling of her songs and mellow tones of her vocals (though, she can surely belt when she wants to). She was recently nominated for a Grammy for her song “Don’t Do Me Good,” – a love song, she says, about the music industry itself and, “how shit it can be”. She had the audience howling at the supermoon, swaying to her melodies, and maybe even crying in public when those lyrics hit just right. Also notable is the fact that she was donating a portion of the proceeds from the sales of her “Crying In Public” t-shirts to support the Trans Life Line – an especially worthy organization to support.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise glitzed onto the stage with “Peter Pan,” the opening track from their new album, which really set the stage to how I think a lot of us have been feeling lately…
Well, we’re lost, boys
But I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be
Than here with you
… and that was the vibe that carried through the night. RKS has a variety of musical styles and doesn’t fit into any single box. The first half of the set showcased electronic pop hues more akin to their newer music, but they took us for a journey through the years all night.
The talented Ela Melo dazzled the stage in her glittering 99 jersey & torn fishnet stockings, and she impressed me further when the song lyrics found her breaking into a hip-hop style that I wasn’t expecting, but which she delivered. When she grabbed her guitar & started strumming along, the band played some of their more folky songs – including “All That And More (Sailboat),” the song that first introduced me to them. That song was followed up by another from their first album, Seven+Mary, “First Class,” where I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the audience chanting the lyrics, “FUCKED UP!” as loud as they could alongside the band.
RKS did a wide variety of songs from their discography, spanning (just over) a decade. I was pleasantly surprised with how incredibly hard they went with “Run.” The guitar riffs ripped through the Hollywood Palladium, and it was an incredible way to finish their set! Of course, they couldn’t end without thanking their fans for coming, so an encore consisting of “Thanks For Coming” seemed most appropriate. The fans, I’m sure, feel that same sentiment back at RKS – thanks for coming to our town.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise isn’t done touring yet, and you can find their current tour schedule on their website: https://www.rksband.com/
Be sure to check out their new album, LOVE HATE MUSIC BOX:
The Indy Review 