Cold War Kids Debut New Songs in Chicago

Long Beach, Calif. quartet Cold War Kids haven't toured since last summer, but they decided to play an exclusive five-city -- including Anchorage, Alaska -- micro tour in support of their new EP, 'Behave Yourself.' Saturday night at The Vic in Chicago, the Kids performed the four new songs from the EP to a rather boisterous and disobedient sold-out crowd.

The band opened with energetic 'I've Seen Enough' from sophomore record 'Loyalty to Loyalty,' which was immediately welcomed with approval from the audience, who quaffed their beers and chatted loudly throughout the show. While the band played the piano, maracas, guitar and a tambourine, four panels in the background displayed various black-and-white video footage. Before the show even began, a message on the screen read the show was being taped and a bootleg video would be available for free download for audience members.

It didn't take the band long to segue into new song 'Audience,' full of hooks and bellowing vocals from lead singer Nathan Willett. 'Coffee Spoon,' 'Sermons' and 'Santa Ana Winds' fared well with fans and cemented a return to form. From there, the band whipped through 'Red Wine, Success!' (featuring images of wine labels), 'Welcome to the Occupation,' replete with a monochromatic lighting scheme, and a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Long As I Can See the Light.'

As the band dug deeper into their 75-minute set, they began to perform their chestnuts. "This is an old one," Willett announced. With just the hum of the bass chords, the crowd instantly recognized the song as hit 'Hang Me Out to Dry' from first full-length 'Robbers and Cowards.' The audience shouted out the lyrics, held up their beers, and waved their hands back and forth along to the beats. Seated at his piano, Willett played the soulful 'Hospital Beds,' which again unified the crowd in a sing-along. The gospel-tinged 'Saint John' riled up the crowd and the band alike, while a maraca slammed into a hi-hat.

"Chicago is a special place for us to be," Willett said before he and the band played the last encore, 'We Used to Vacation.' The combination of the hi-hat rattling, guitar blaring and maraca-shaking coaxed people to stand up and yell out the chorus: 'I promised to my wife and children I'd never touch another drink,' all the while keeping the party going.

Cold War Kids on AOL Music