Song Spotlight: Rozwell Kid's Kangaroo Pocket (a night at El Cid)

Rozwell Kid did double duty at El Cid on a recent August night. Not only were they Colleen Green's opening band, but they were also her backing band. You can read my review of her set here. I was unfamiliar with Rozwell Kid, but there were people in the crowd who were singing along throughout the band's set. Though Colleen Green was the headliner, I would think that Rozwell Kid also helped fill up the venue. 

Rozwell Kid at El Cid

The band is from the town of Martinsburg, West Virginia. I don't know if the band members still live in that town, but I had to do a little research about West Virginia. I found this interesting, West Virginia has a population of 1.77 million while Hawaii has a population of 1.446 million. On the other hand, the largest city in West Virginia is Charleston at 45,636. Martinsburg has a population of 19,042. The largest city in Hawaii is Honolulu at 350,964. Hawaii has a smaller population, but their largest city is nearly 8 times the size of West Virginia's largest city. There actually might be times when there are more tourists in Honolulu than there are people living in Charleston. Interesting rural versus urban situation between the two states.

Guitarist and vocalist Jordan Hudkins has a sense of humor about the band. After the played their first three songs in rapid fire, he told the audience, "We did it. We made it flawlessly through three songs. We're trying our best and that's all you can ask. Am I right?" Of course, a wise guy in the audience responded with, "That's not good enough." Someone in the audience (maybe a friend) gave the guy a wicked side-eye for that retort.  

Rozwell Kid at El Cid

For their most recent release "Grand Canyon," Hudkins introduced the song by talking about being getting married a few years back. He told people not to cheer yet as they hadn't heard the full story. Now people were worried that he was going to tell a story about how his marriage ended at the Grand Canyon. He talked about going to the Grand Canyon and then concluded with the fact that he was still married. There was a sense of relief in the audience. 

What did I notice: the band came well prepared for the exertion of playing back to back sets. They all had their towels within arm's reach. 

What did I notice 2: Colleen Green had the stage decorated with balloons. During Rozwell Kid's set, some of the balloons were tossed around between the band and crowd. And other balloons mysteriously started to pop. 

Rozwell Kid at El Cid

For "Kangaroo Pocket," Hudkins started it off with, "Hello, is this Jordan's mom? Yes, the people of Los Angeles are proud of Rozwell Kid." Bassist and vocalist Devin Donnelly responded, "Is that how you talk to your mom?" I think the song perfectly encapsulates the band's persona. The band has a perfect melodic blend of vocals between Hudkins and Donnelly as they play the alt rock tune. Fans in the crowd were singing the lyrics as the band put on a shredding show for the crowd. The shredding was highlighted by guitarist Adam Meisterhans who went right up to the front of the stage to show off his guitar skills. You could tell that the bad was totally enjoying themselves on stage.

To me, the song addresses the differences between urban and rural life in terms of culture:

Maybe I should read or watch the opera
That don't sound like me
It seems super high-maintenance

Rozwell Kid at El Cid

Setlist: Wendy's Trash Can, Boomerang, Baby's First Sideburns, Dogfood, Total Mess, Grand Canyon, Creeped Out, Kangaroo Pocket, Armadillo, Halloween 3.5, Dipped, Birthday Sombrero.