On March 1st, K-Flay released "Bad Vibes" a new single on her then forthcoming new album, Solutions. Before the July 12th release of her 3rd album, K-Flay played a sold-out show at Bottom of the Hill on April 15th, and a few months later the Solutions tour brought her back to the Bay. This time around, she headlined at The Fox Theater in Oakland on September 7th.
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K-Flay @ The Fox Theater in Oakland 9/7/2019
photo by Marc Fong
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The Saturday night show sold decently but it didn't sell-out. Still, playing a venue with a capacity of 350 (Bottom of the Hill) to one with a capacity of 2,800 (The Fox Theater in Oakland) within the same year is a big jump.
And, it's the biggest venue K-Flay has headlined to date (She told us so!). So, there's that.
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K-Flay @ The Fox Theater in Oakland 9/7/2019
photo by Marc Fong
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Since her Life as a Dog debut 5 years ago, Kristine Meredith Flaherty has been looking on the brighter side of life. When the black haired singer, songwriter, producer first started out she was a rapper and a student at Stanford. Last year her hit single "Blood In The Cut" got nominated for an Grammy for Best Rock Song.
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K-Flay @ The Fox Theater in Oakland 9/7/2019
photo by Marc Fong
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The 2017 album, Everywhere Is Somewhere really put her on the map and not for rap but for alternative rock. In the short two years since then, K-Flay's style has evolved once again.
With the release of "Bad Vibes", K-Flay has shown a more pop-indie side with softer vocals, optimistic lyrics and catchy, up-beat melodies. She's still got an edge it's just not as aggressive.
Even her image has gone from grunge to polished tom-boy. And she still rocks classic docs. These changes might be due to her signing with Interscope records a few years ago. It might also be due to the fact that K-Flay is in a happy place in her life right now and like they say, art imitates life.
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K-Flay @ The Fox Theater in Oakland 9/7/2019
photo by Marc Fong
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The band was perched on top of a lit up, color changing, tiered platform and like K-Flay, they too were dressed in all white. The set started with three new songs, two of which are two of my faves off the new album, single worthy "This Baby Don't Cry" and "Bad Vibes".
The Cali friendly, single driven introduction definitely dialed fans in to get the party started. K-Flay was all over the place: dancing, jumping, head-banging, thrashing about and her positive energy was so enthralling it was hard to be in the crowd and not join along.
At one point she got on the guitar and everyone rocked out to some songs off her first two albums before diving back into Solutions. There were some acoustic versions of songs in the set, including an acoustic cover of "Fuck and Run" originally by indie-rock goddess, Liz Phair. She left us with her biggest hit "Blood in the Cut" and it was the perfect finale to K-Flay's high energy, headlining show.
She made it a point to connect with her fans in Oakland that night, like we were a part of her experience as much as she was part of our experience. Her passion for music and performing, her new album and gratitude for her fans shined throughout her performance. It was a lot of fun to see her having fun on stage and know that she was absolutely loving it.
K-Flay has come a long way and she proves that change is for the better. After she's done touring the U.S.A K-Flay goes over to the UK before closing out her year at Riptide Music Festival in Florida on November 23rd then The Edge's Black Friday in Oklahoma on November 29th.
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K-Flay @ The Fox Theater in Oakland 9/7/2019
photo by Marc Fong
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The Cali friendly, single driven introduction definitely dialed fans in to get the party started. K-Flay was all over the place: dancing, jumping, head-banging, thrashing about and her positive energy was so enthralling it was hard to be in the crowd and not join along.
At one point she got on the guitar and everyone rocked out to some songs off her first two albums before diving back into Solutions. There were some acoustic versions of songs in the set, including an acoustic cover of "Fuck and Run" originally by indie-rock goddess, Liz Phair. She left us with her biggest hit "Blood in the Cut" and it was the perfect finale to K-Flay's high energy, headlining show.
 |
K-Flay @ The Fox Theater in Oakland 9/7/2019
photo by Marc Fong
|
She made it a point to connect with her fans in Oakland that night, like we were a part of her experience as much as she was part of our experience. Her passion for music and performing, her new album and gratitude for her fans shined throughout her performance. It was a lot of fun to see her having fun on stage and know that she was absolutely loving it.
 |
K-Flay @ The Fox Theater in Oakland 9/7/2019
photo by Marc Fong
|
K-Flay has come a long way and she proves that change is for the better. After she's done touring the U.S.A K-Flay goes over to the UK before closing out her year at Riptide Music Festival in Florida on November 23rd then The Edge's Black Friday in Oklahoma on November 29th.
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K-Flay @ The Fox Theater in Oakland 9/7/2019
photo by Marc Fong
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1. Not In California
2. This Baby Don't Cry
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K-Flay @ The Fox Theater in Oakland 9/7/2019
photo by Marc Fong
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3. Bad Vibes
4. Black Wave
5. Giver
6. Make Me Fade
7. Good News
8. Champagne
9. I Like Myself (Most of the Time)
10. Nervous (acoustic)
11. Can't Sleep (acoustic)
12. Fuck & Run (Liz Phair cover) (acoustic)
13. DNA
14. Only in the Dark
15. Ice Cream
16. So Fast, So Maybe
17. High Enough
encore
18. Sister
19. Blood in the Cut
K-Flay Solutions U.S tour dates
September 17th @ First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
September 19th @ Riviera Theater - Chicago, IL
September 20th @ Crofoot Ballroom - Detroit, MI
September 21st @ Town Ballroom - Buffalo, NY
September 22nd @ Phoenix Concert Theatre - Toronto, Canada
September 24th @ Brooklyn Steel - Brooklyn, NY
September 25th @ Royale - Boston, MA
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K-Flay @ The Fox Theater in Oakland 9/7/2019
photo by Marc Fong
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September 26th @ Theater of Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA
September 29th @ 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
September 30th @ The Fillmore - Charlotte, NC
October 2nd @ Marathon Music Works
October 4th @ Austin City Limits - Austin, TX
October 9th @ The Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA
October 11th @ Austin City Limits - Austin, TX
October 12th @ The Fillmore Auditorium - Denver, CO
