07 February 2019 (gig)
08 February 2019
King King are the absolute epitome of the hard working Blues/Rock outfit and it looks as though they are finally getting just rewards for 10 years of building their reputation around the clubs and dive of Britain & Europe, not to mention support slots with the Likes of Thunder and Europe.
This tour is also a goodbye to founding member and bassist Lindsay Coulson so it was a night for much joy and goodbyes.
The place was packed out, a full crowd suddenly getting charged as AC/DC’s ‘Highway To Hell’ blared out over the PA and there King King were, blasting into a hot ‘Broken’ with Alan Nimmo’s smile lighting up his gold Strat and the band hitting that hard groove from the off.
King King don’t mess about.
They play music based around Alan’s guitar and vocals, Johnny Dyke’s keys and the hottest rhythm section around in Lindsay Coulson & Wayne Proctor and they just fire out track after track, tight, soulful and with a real sense of fun. The four play as though there is nothing they’d rather be doing and the crowd gets pulled in to the performance, stomping and clapping along with the band.
Bearing in mind that this was a Camden audience I cannot remember less chatter going on in the crowd, they were just transfixed and completely entranced by the performance on the stage.
They played numbers from all four albums including crowd favourites such as ‘Coming Home’ which was dedicated to Ted McKenna who died recently, a stunning version of ‘Stranger To Love’ with the keyboards really kicking in a funky notch.
Alan’s solo on ‘You Stopped The Rain’ was more restrained than I have heard it in the past and I must say that his voice has changed – for the better – since his throat problems in the recent past; he has lost some of the full-on bellow and developed a more soulful sound to his vocals and it suits the music really well, especially on a number like ‘Crazy’.
Simply put, King King delivered a terrific set that had the crowd in raptures. What more could you wish for?
Sari Schorr opened the show with a short set that hit all the points that make her one of the most explosive vocalists around today. Opening up with ‘New Revolution’ she had the crowd going immediately with Ash Wilson’s guitar and Matt Beable’s bass really killing it. Her version of ‘Ready For Love’ was stunning and she was really well received.
Picture by Robert Sutton
