Emily Kinney Played House of Independents, 12/4/15

First Time in a New Space

Emily Kinney, best known for her role as Beth Greene on The Walking Dead, brought her music back to Asbury Park last night for her (and my) first time at the new House of Independents. Kinney's acting experience and musical theater background were both evident in her performance; and she was as gracious as she was the last time I saw her, even in the face of a little audience weirdness.

I walked into House of Independents a little before 8pm, and I immediately got the feeling of newness and freshness from the venue. The space is open and modern, and I started getting more excited to see how it would look and sound when the performance started.

Friday's show would be a seated affair. House of Independents can accommodate up to 275 seated guests. They're also able to retract their seating for standing room shows of 500. The size really is perfect for a downtown venue, and the placement of both the upstairs and downstairs bars means that you don't get that annoying thing of bar backs dragging kegs and garbage cans through the performance space all night long.

Kinney and her band took the stage a little after 8:30 and played songs from both of her EPs -- Blue Toothbrush and Expired Love -- as well as her new full-length This Is War. She told stories in between songs, discussing their inspirations and how her dual career has influenced her songwriting. When she wasn't playing guitar, she gestured for emphasis like a Broadway performer. Kinney has a beautiful voice that adds some sweetness even to songs that are lyrically kind of bitter. Her music is singer / songwriter pop with a hint of country. The songs are honest and very clearly reflect the personality Kinney presents on stage.

Like her last trip through Asbury, I got the sense that many in the audience had become fans via Kinney's stint on the most popular show in the history of cable television. When Kinney introduced one song by saying, "This is a song about a boy I met," someone in the audience called out, "Darryl!" At another point, someone got up from their seat, walked right up in front of the stage, and started taking photos or videos mid-song. Kinney laughed and eventually posed for the camera. In both cases, she never called anyone out and remained incredibly gracious. Kinney included two covers in the set that were familiar to Walking Dead fans: her own spin on the spare "Be Good" from Waxahatchee's American Weekend and a version of Tom Waits classic "Hold On."

At the end of the main set, Kinney and the band left the stage to applause. Those died down, and the crowd waited quietly -- very quietly -- until Kinney returned for a one song encore. I had a weird thought at that moment. The audience consisted of fans who had come to Kinney's music -- and there were plenty of people who knew every word to every song -- by being fans of her TV show. They weren't necessarily seasoned concert-goers like the people I see every weekend in Asbury Park. They were there to see one of their TV idols and didn't know or care about conventions like chanting "One. More. Song." or "Play 'Freebird!'" And, to her credit, Kinney didn't demand that her audience adhere to those conventions by implementing a "No Photo / Video" policy or not coming out for an encore because the crowd weren't making enough noise (I mean, nobody was leaving.). She gave her fans, some of whom had driven hours to be there, a very enjoyable night of music and stories; and she didn't pretend that her time on TV didn't exist. She embraced it and was clearly grateful for the support.

And House of Independents is a showplace. The bar. The lighting. The sound. It's an amazing place to see a show in an excellent downtown location. I look forward to many, many future experiences there and wish them all the luck in the world.

You can check out the pics from Emily Kinney's set by clicking the link below.

Emily Kinney

Emily Kinney Played The Saint on 2/21/14

Bringing out the Dead Fans

When I walked into The Saint last night, the size of the crowd surprised me. I guess, though, when you're a regular cast member on one of the most popular shows in the history of cable television (Emily Kinney plays Beth Greene on AMC's The Walking Dead), fans will jump at the chance to get up close and personal. There really are few places that let you get as up close as you can at The Saint, and Ms. Kinney had the personal part covered with her songs about relationships ended, ending, beginning, and never-gonna-happen.

This was going to be the night where I tested out my new camera, so I wormed my way up to the front. When I got there, I met a super nice guy wearing a Daryl Dixon-style leather vest with the wings screened onto the back. He was a big fan of zombies and horror and was looking forward to seeing Emily Kinney and several other cast members at next month's Monster Mania Convention in Cherry Hill. My friend wasn't the only fan of the show there by any stretch (Hell, I'm a huge fan.), but most people in attendance seemed to have at least a passing familiarity with Emily Kinney's music.

I'd classify her music as pop. She's got a sweet voice, and puts it to use singing some often cutting, often funny lyrics that deal mostly with the trials and tribulations of relationships. Kinney currently resides in Brooklyn, and that comes up in many of her songs. She had the support of an excellent band.

Last night, she was a bubbly presence on stage, thanking everyone profusely for coming out, telling some of the stories that lay behind her songs, and smiling and laughing all evening. She played songs from both of her EPs -- last year's Expired Love and 2011's Blue Toothbrush -- receiving especially nice responses to Expired Love track "Kids," audience participation number "Julie," and new song "This Is War."

Unlike some actors with musical careers, Kinney acknowledged and embraced the fact that most people were there to see her because of her day job. She closed the evening with "Hold On," asking, "Should we do 'Hold On' for all the Walking Dead fans here?" Beth Greene famously sings the Tom Waits classic to baby Judith Grimes during a scene on The Walking Dead. After her set, she moved to the merch table where she smiled, signed autographs, and posed for pictures with everyone in the long line.

I saw my friend from earlier in the night and asked him if he'd gotten his picture taken with her. "Yeah," he said. "And she signed two things for me. I see her again in two weeks!" He was absolutely thrilled. Really, if you're an entertainer, isn't that what it's all about?

Here are some highlights from last night. You can see more in the Flickr gallery.