Kaleo has performed in volcanoes and on icebergs, and they just played a concert outside the Rome Colosseum. So one might think that regular old concert venues might be boring for the Icelandic rockers.
However, frontman JJ Julius Son tells ABC Audio that he enjoys the variety of every kind of venue — natural, ancient or otherwise — that Kaleo plays.
"Going from arenas or stadiums when you're playing festivals ... or opening for the [Rolling] Stones, and then playing, like, Belly Up in Aspen for 150 people, I think that just, you know, keeps it kinda fresh, so it's not just Groundhog Day," Julius Son says.
Kaleo opened for the Stones in 2019 and will do so again to kick off their summer U.S. tour Tuesday in Philadelphia. The run marks Kaleo's first Stateside outing since canceling their 2023 U.S. tour opening for Greta Van Fleet for health reasons.
"We did over a hundred shows in '22, which was just way too much," Julius Son says. "Everybody was pretty burned out."
The Kaleo members now feel more refreshed, and also used that time off the road to work on a follow-up to their 2021 album, Surface Sounds. They've put out two new singles in 2024, "Lonely Cowboy" and "Rock N Roller," and you might hear some unreleased material on the tour.
"We might be trying some new stuff live even before they come out," Julius Son says.
Kaleo will play U.S. shows into late June before launching their more expansive Payback tour in August.