FIRST AID KIT HIT BACK AT RAPE CULTURE

After a roar of applause Klara, one half of First Aid Kit, switches her electric guitar for an acoustic and walks back up to the microphone.

“That was our protest song. It’s a song that we really wish we didn’t have to write.”

‘You Are The Problem Here’ is what she refers to, her sister and fellow bandmate Johanna nodding in agreement on the other side of the stage.

The song, released on International Woman’s Day, is an angry and direct response to hearing that yet another perpetrator of rape walked without a just sentence for the crime they committed.

It’s an extreme difference to First Aid Kit’s typical fairytale-folk vibe.

It began with a dark stage and smoke blowing into the crowd. Klara’s heavy, gritty guitar riff begins and her red pantsuit is illuminated in a spotlight.

She sings: “I am so sick and tired of this world. All these women with their dreams shattered, from some man’s sweaty desperate touch.”

The Swedish sisters are in Newcastle performing their Rebel Heart tour, the biggest UK tour of theirs to date.

Their adoring crowd can see and hear how passionate they are about this song in particular, soft harmonies and smooth guitar replaced with a performance undeniably loud.

“We wanted to ask some questions to the perpetrators of rape crimes. Questions like ‘Why did you do this to another human being?’ instead of asking victims of rape crime ‘What were you wearing?’ or ‘Had you been drinking?”, Klara continues in her speech.

The sisters aren’t one to hide their feelings, music is an outlet for them to express and heal themselves – hence the name.

First Aid Kit are off onto their European tour now, but undoubtedly in the next few years, fans expect another album and tour. A promise was made to return to Newcastle.