The Cool Kids have grown up. That much was clear after their Auditorium Shores performance on Thursday. As soon as they walked on stage to "Gold and a Pager," I noticed it. Sure, they ran around the stage a lot, but the youthful energy and playfulness of their early YouTube clips and music videos were gone. In their place was a half-hearted workmanlike performance. Certainly not the "I gotta stay humble and move just like a bumble bee / Can't let your ingreat struggle me (no) / So please no stees bitin' / I'm just a teenager..." I expect from The Cool Kids!
The setlist was an abbreviation of their Portland show, with "Gold and a Pager" as opener, followed by some new stuff, followed by The Bake Sale material. The new songs' bass beats were overpowering, and the Kids' flow looser, like on Gone Fishing; it sounded pretty good. But, like nearly everyone else in the sizable crowd, I was really waiting for cuts from The Bake Sale. These were a mixed bag. The aforementioned "Gold and a Pager" hit hard and had the crowd in a frenzy as soon as the beat dropped. The Kid's flow was lazy and a little sloppy on "Bassment Party" and the backing track to "Black Mags" was darker and didn't fit the lyrics as well as the original. Details aside, the impression I was left with was that The Cool Kids' set lacked the spark of creativity that distinguished them from their peers. Too bad.
