L.A.’s Cold War Kids headlined the last installment of this summer’s Sound In Focus concert series held in the Century City park next to the Annenberg Space for Photography. The event, hosted by KCRW, was filled with fans and families lounging on the grass and making good use of the popular beer gardens. Children were welcome, and guests could even watch the show from above the park next to the exhibition. Cold War Kids emerged to a very welcoming crowd and opened their set with “Miracle Mile” from their 2013 album “Dear Miss Lonelyhearts.” Their 17-song set seemed to go by quickly as they moved through their tracks with their signature brand of punk fervor. Frontman Nathan Willett went back and forth from piano to guitar and bassist Matt Maust careened around the stage through smokey hues. Multi-instrumentalist Matthew Schwartz also wore his different hats playing keyboard, singing and shaking maracas. The latter half of their show also featured two back-up vocalists, a cellist and violinist. They closed the main set with clap-along “Hospital Beds” and the unhinged “Something Is Not Right With Me.” They returned for an encore of John Lennon’s “Well Well Well” and “Saint John” from their debut album, making the end of the Sound In Focus series go out with a bang.

Cold War Kids were preceded by Oklahoma’s Other Lives, whose orchestral rock, though somewhat over-complex, impressed the audience as the band shifted through different instruments: all the staples plus violin, trumpet and harmonium. Playing much of their new album “Rituals,” the atmospheric quintet, fronted by the seemingly messianic Jesse Tabish, pulled their spacious sound from all directions and brought it all together in a lush and charming performance.

Shot by me for Buzzbands.LA

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