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Kitchen Dwellers & The Fretliners 1.16.25

The Elm Bozeman, Montana Words & Photos by Lauren Mitro
It’s no surprise that The Kitchen Dwellers started their 2025 tour where the band originally formed, but what was surprising was the sheer amount of energy and love that was present. For some reason, this show was one of the bigger, more energetic shows that I’ve ever seen at the Elm; starting with the line for merch almost at the door, and ending with the entire crowd not moving for 30 minutes after the second set ended. They brought the heat, and then absolutely stayed in the kitchen.
The “Welcome Home” and “Welcome Back” banners were sentimental, alluding to a time where selling out smaller dive bars and jam band spaces was the norm. The Kitchen Dwellers really worked their way up in the Bozeman scene and beyond, and the original fans from Bozeman will never miss a show, or miss an opportunity to tell someone they have been along for the ride the entire time. One thing that I personally love about the Kitchen Dwellers is the manners that their fans have. This is one of the more polite groups of fans, constantly asking me if they can move to make me more comfortable, asking me if I need anything, or simply saying that my camera ‘is so frickin’ cool’. Either way, I felt accepted and loved as one of their own and that is a hard feat to conquer.
They played two sets and both were electric; or as electric as a banjo can be. Playing mostly songs from Muir Maid and their newest album, Seven Devils, the stage presence was so energetic that it exactly reflected the crowd that was dancing to every beat.
The Kitchen Dwellers bring more people out for more than just their music. They’ve created a community of loyal fans that really know how to get down. The dancing, the decor, the hat accessories, all of it put together really sums up who the Kitchen Dwellers are as a band, a force of nature, of natural music building with friends. They inspire and create beautiful spaces for people to feel the music move through them. Lauren's Photo Gallery www.KitchenDwellers.com www.thefretliners.com Set One: Smokestack, Pendulum, June Apple, White House Blues, Woods Lake, Driftwood, Cabin Pressure, Drop Tine Set Two: Shadows, Kids, Shadows, Wise River, Visions Of More, The Crow and the Raven, Covered Bridges, Visions Of More, Timebomb

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