Retrace the 20-year history of Cold War Kids, and you’ll end up having crisscrossed seemingly every border town, not in the former Soviet Union, but between Los Angeles and Orange Counties in Southern California.
The original members—including lead singer Nathan Willett and bassist Matt Maust—first met at Biola University in La Mirada. The band officially formed in 2004, during regular meetings at now-former guitarist Jonnie Russell’s apartment above an Italian restaurant called Mulberry Street in Fullerton, just inside Orange County Shortly thereafter, they relocated back to L.A. County by way of Whittier. And by 2008, they had firmly planted their roots in Long Beach.
At a granular level, then, Cold War Kids’ shows at The Fonda Theatre in Hollywood weren’t strictly hometown affairs, at least not band-wide. The group’s lineup has also shifted substantially over the years, with Nathan and Matt as the only remaining original members. But the band rightfully claims L.A. as its home, and if the crowd was any indication, the city would certainly do the same.
The near-finale of Cold War Kids’ 20th-anniversary tour offered fans in the band’s native soil a marvelous mix of their memorable catalog, along with new favorites off their latest album, 2023’s Cold War Kids. That eponymous album contributed three tracks—“Stray”, “Double Life”, and “Run Away With Me”—to a scintillating 24-song setlist that had the Fonda rocking until nearly midnight during the first of back-to-back performances on Hollywood Boulevard.
In fact, Cold War Kids pulled plenty from their recent run of fecundity. They opened the evening with the pseudo-industrial thumping of “You Already Know”, from 2020’s New Age Norms 2. The band referred back to the New Age Norms trilogy often, with beloved bangers like “What You Say”, “Who’s Gonna Love Me Now”, “Complainer”, and “Regret Regret”. Even so, the band had no issues with giving voice to the entirety of their ten-album discography.
Their first release, 2006’s Robbers & Cowards, was well represented—as it should be. After performing their latest single, “Heaven in Your Hands”, the band got the Fonda’s floor thumping with bass during “Hang Me Up To Dry”, and kept the register low right into the White Stripes-esque “St. John”.
Loyalty To Loyalty (2008) contributed arguably the deepest cut of the night, courtesy of “Mexican Dogs”, along with the encore closer of “Something is Not Right With Me”. Fans of 2010’s Mine Is Yours got just enough of a fix with “Louder Than Ever”, as did acolytes of 2013’s Dear Miss Lonelyhearts by way of “Miracle Mile”. The band also drew a pair of signature songs, “First” and “ All This Could Be Yours”, from 2014’s Hold My Home, and went slightly deeper with a trio of tracks from 2017’s LA Divine: “Love Is Mystical”, “Can We Hang On?”, and “Restless”.
All told, Cold War Kids covered seemingly every inch of their two decades as a band in less than two hours, without even a hint of short shrift. Those hoping to celebrate this anniversary with the group—either again or for the first time—can do so on the spring festival circuit at Subaru WinterFest in Bend, OR; BottleRock in Napa Valley, CA; Sleepy Hollow Music Festival in Sleepy Hollow, NY; and Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI. Find tickets and a full list of tour dates here.
Check out some fan-shot videos from Cold War Kids at The Fonda along with images from photographer Josh Martin.
Cold War Kids — “Run Away With Me” — 3/21/24
[Video: Alan Todd]
Cold War Kids — “Run Away With Me” — 3/21/24
[Video: Eric Sunde]
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