Kimbra Live at the Ace Hotel Theater, Los Angeles

This Valentine’s Day, couples and singles alike packed into the beautiful Ace Hotel Theater in Downtown Los Angeles for a night with New Zealand artist, Kimbra. Around 8:30 p.m., the lobby was packed with people waiting to purchase drinks and talking while opening act Arc Iris performed their set. The inside of the theater is elaborate with Spanish Gothic-Style architecture and rows upon rows of red theater seats. During the performance, the audience area is dark, making it a real challenge to locate one’s seat row and number, but once that hurdle is crossed, taking in the theater is like releasing a big breath of air.

The electro-pop group Arc Iris were performing their last song, “Piggies” when four casually-dressed humans donning oversized pig heads walked and danced down each aisle toward the front of the stage. The singer laughed between songs, giving the night a light-hearted start. But the growing crowd were completely transfixed for King’s set, as the trio of women sporting all white performed electronic R&B music. Singers Amber, Anita and Paris even played some love songs for the lovers in the audience, including “Love Song” and “Supernatural,” wishing everyone a happy Valentine’s (and Galentine’s) day.

From the time Kimbra took the stage, her voice completely commanded the audience. Almost every seat in the theater was taken at this point as her opening song “Version of Me” came in softly but quickly emerged into full-on belting from Kimbra, completely transfixing the crowd. The audience cheered when the beat came in while she sang “stay for the version of me” over and over, increasing her voice in intensity.

On stage, Kimbra donned a striped black and white semi-couture outfit, her two bandmates encased in two connected diamond-shaped screens with bars behind them (that would later light up). The light would sometimes hit them, giving the audience a glimpse at the guitar, bass and keys players. But mostly the screens provided moving visuals from geometric patterns to space and landscapes, constantly moving with the music. Kimbra moved along to the music, gesturing with her hands when she wasn’t manipulating the electronics in front of her and swaying her hair from side-to-side. She sang with her full body, taking intuitive movements like backing up and sometimes crouching down.

Each song of her 14-song set had its own brilliance, but the most special of the bunch were what she’d describe as an “experiment.” For her new song, “Past Love,” Kimbra went back to her singer/songwriter guitar playing roots and performed a stunning, soulful song starting with just her and the guitar, the keys coming in delicately in the latter half. The song landed on dreamy chords, opening into a full, gorgeous sound while Kimbra belted “all you do is cry” before pulling back to the beginning of the song. It was brilliant.

The crowd remained seated for the majority of the show until Kimbra invited everyone to get up and dance for “Sweet Relief,” prefacing the song with “this one is sexy.” The majority of the audience followed suit and stood up to groove along to the funky beats. During a couple parts of the song, Kimbra invited the crowd to join her in a scream “on the count of 3,” which got them even more enthused. She thanked the opening acts, gushing over touring band King, before closing the set with the rhythmic “Top of the World,” while images of space and blue lit bars inundating the audience.

The final treat of the night was her single encore song, “Real Life,” which Kimbra shared as another “experiment” of a bedroom demo she’s adding to her upcoming album Primal Heart, which is scheduled to be released on April 20, 2018. In this softer song performed solely by her, she used vocal loops and effects Justin Vernon would approve of.

Each of Kimbra’s “experiments” were well-received by the audience. Her powerhouse of an act is certainly worthy of being witnessed live; Kimbra’s voice absolutely filled the grandiose theater, and she’s a master at crafting songs that are both subtle and groove-worthy.

Set List:

1. Version of Me
2. Hi Def Distance Romance
3. The Good War
4. Black Sky
5. Human
6. Settle Down
7. As You Are
8. Love In High Places
9. Everybody Knows
10. Past Love
11. Two Way Street
12. Lightyears
13. Sweet Relief
14. Top of the World
    Encore:
15. Real Life

File photo: Owen Ela