Kiss the Tiger w/ The Host Country

Name: Kiss the Tiger w/ The Host Country
Start: 2025-03-20T19:00:00-05:00
Location: 1159 24th Street Des Moines IA 50311

Schedule

Thu, 20 Mar, 2025 at 07:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

1159 24th Street Des Moines IA 50311 | Des Moines, IA

xBk presents
Kiss The Tiger
w/ The Host Country

THURSDAY, MARCH 20
Doors: 6pm | Show: 7pm
All Ages

Day of show: $15 DoS (+ Fees)

*Limited seating available on a first come, first served basis. If you require ADA accommodations please reach out to [email protected]*
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•• KISS THE TIGER ••
At a time when the world seems intent on pushing us further inward and further apart, Kiss the Tiger are here to rattle our bones and bust us out of our cocoons with some good old fashioned rock and roll.

Fronted by the magnetic and disarming Meghan Kreidler, who draws on her background in theater to break the fourth wall between audience and band with her righteous fist pumps and high kicks, this is a band that doesn’t just play. They combust. And watching them set the stage ablaze, it’s hard not to feel that tension that’s been built up in all of us these past few years slowly release, too, like a collective exhale set to ratcheting guitars, buoyant bass lines and Kreidler’s perfectly pitched screams. Theirs is a clean-burning fire. Hell, you might even call it healing.

“We want to give the audience an experience that is visceral and jolts them awake—creating community in that moment,” Kreidler notes. “I think that’s a really nice gift you can give people: Just let go.”

Over the past few years Kiss the Tiger have set the Twin Cities ablaze, and there’s nary a club, block party, park amphitheater or backyard that they haven’t transformed with their commanding live shows. And their rigorous performance schedule has paid off: The band has never sounded tighter or more certain of its mission. Kreidler is backed on stage by her longtime partner and creative foil, Michael Anderson, on rhythm guitar, plus lead guitarist Alex Sandberg, bassist Paul DeLong, and drummer Alyse Emanuel.

Their sets are often accompanied by sing-alongs to regional hits like the hard-knocking “Motel Room,” their ode to pandemic loneliness, “I Miss You,” or their pleading anthem “Hold On to Love,” all of which have become instantly recognizable to locals thanks to regular airplay on the tastemaking public radio station 89.3 The Current. (“Hold On to Love,” specifically, spent a whopping nine weeks at No. 1 on The Current’s Chart Show and was inducted into the Chart Show Hall of Fame.)

Their latest album, Vicious Kid, is a tour de force through the band’s increasingly sophisticated songwriting, which is handled jointly by Kreidler and Anderson. There are plenty of moments where they embody the spirit of late ‘70s new wave punk, like in the ridiculously fun “Who Does Her Hair?” But they have started weaving in softer textures, too, like the crooning and feminist alt-country ballad “Grown Ass Woman” or the skeletal and simmering “Out of My Mind.” Unsurprisingly, Vicious Kid was named one of the Best Minnesota Albums of 2021 by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and highlighted as their longtime critic Chris Riemenschneider’s personal favorite that year.

In addition to exploring a wider variety of sounds and genres, Vicious Kid also features some of Kiss the Tiger’s most thought-provoking lyrics to date. In “Grown Ass Woman,” Kreidler pleads, and then demands, that she be allowed to cut her own path in this world—a message that dovetails seamlessly with Kiss the Tiger’s approach to making music. “The angel of death wants me to draw another breath/But angel won’t you leave me alone,” she sings and sighs. “Even near the end not a foe or a friend/Is gonna tell me what to do.”

In addition to headlining their own barn-burning shows, Kiss the Tiger have also been tapped to open for prominent acts such as Joan Jett, Lucinda Williams, Lake Street Dive, The Suburbs, The Hold Steady, Golden Smog, Gary Clark Jr., and the Cold War Kids. They have also brought their act on the road to open for Philly’s Low Cut Connie, Austin’s Emily Wolfe, and fellow Minneapolis indie favorites Bad Bad Hats. -Andrea Swensson

•• THE HOST COUNTRY ••
The Host Country brings you rock infused with Americana, blues, folk, and a bit of synthy goodness. Original, lyrically-driven music that's inviting and sincere, tinged with the rawness of the emotions that live within love, longing, regret, joy, and everything in between. Dual vocalists & songwriters Ty Wistrand (guitar) & Diana Weishaar (keys) along with Tom Rue (bass), Ethan Weishaar (drums), and Michael Lovan (guitar) use their music to tell a story that's heartfelt, relatable, and magnetic.
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ADD ON OPTIONS
(does not include tickets for the show)
A limited amount of reserved tables are offered for this event if you'd like to ensure that you have seats. Reserved tables can comfortably accommodate up to a party of four individuals. Please note that the Reserved Table Add-On does not include a general admission ticket; each person must have their own general admission ticket for entry. For example, a party of three people would want to purchase three general admission tickets and one table. For the remaining tables, seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Option #1: Floor High-Top Side Table : $50 (+ Fees)
Option #2: Premium Balcony High Top Table: $50 (+ Fees)