After nearly two decades of thinking it would never happen, Rilo Kiley announced a reunion tour in the early Spring of this year. I was overcome with excitement at the thought of getting to see such an amazing band again. The "Sometimes When You're On, You're Really Fucking On" Tour was Rilo Kiley's statement that they were back and ready to take on the world again. I couldn't have been more anxious to catch them when they came to LA's Greek Theater.
Opening the first of two nights under the stars at The Greek was Kyle Mooney. You may remember him as the person who dressed up as "Baby Yoda" on multiple occasions for SNL's Weekend Update. Now he's making music. However, what I didn't expect were fun-filled comedy tunes that had the crowd cackling in their seats.
Following Mooney was the Indie Folk project from Katie Crutchfield, Waxahatchee. Readers of SPB may be more familiar with Crutchfield's previous punk rock band, P.S. Eliot with her sister Allison who came out to sing a song with Waxahatchee. Their set mostly consisted of tracks from their 2024 release, Tigers Blood, but they did sneak in a cover of Plains' "Problem With It" -- another Crutchfield side-project.
After a day filled with downpours and overcast clouds, the sky was beginning to clear as the programming intro to "The Execution of All Things" began to play. Rilo Kiley walked out. Jenny Lewis took up the bass and those opening notes began to resonate off the trees that encase the Greek while Lewis sang the opening line "Soldiers come quickly. I feel the Earth beneath my feet." It was almost like their was a sigh of relief. The city that brought Rilo Kiley to life was welcoming them back with their arms outstretched.
The band spent the night bouncing between album, More Adventurous, Under the Blacklight, and their breakout sophomore record, The Execution of All Things -- playing fan favorites like "Spectacular Views," "Ripcord," and "Silver Lining." Throughout the night, Lewis was interacting with the crowd. During the crescendo of "Does He Love You," she even picked up a live camera and panned it around the crowd before turning it to herself to blow kisses as well as flip off the camera.
When the time came for their encore, they decided to take it all the way back to the beginning with "The Frug" from their first EP. With a little help from their roadie, they went through all the dances in the song, except of course, for "The Smurf." You would think after all these years, they would have figured out how to do The Smurf by now. Rilo Kiley closed out the night with "Pictures of Success" from their debut full-length, Takeoffs and Landings.
It was a wonderful night. Rilo Kiley haven't lost a beat. There's no telling where they go from here. With the exception of a couple of shows planned in Spain next year, there hasn't been anything else announced. The reunion tour has come to a close, and fans are itching to know what comes next. Will the band return to writing? Was this a one-off reunion? Will they do another tour in the future? It's all a mystery right now. At the end of the day, these shows were a gift. It was something special to see the return of a band that means so much to me and others. One can only hope they're just getting started.
