04 March 2015 (gig)
06 March 2015
Southampton’s Talking Heads was rammed on Wednesday night for the visit of King King supported by young Laurence Jones and the crowd left buzzing and smiling into the night after a brilliant night of Blues and rock.
King King would come under the banner of ‘grizzled veterans’ but they have real power and no little joy about their music and although Alan Nimmo was suffering from a vicious cold he sang and played brilliantly through a set of new and old material that just fizzed with class.
From the opening moments they had the crowd going with Alan’s guitar perfectly matched to Bob Fridzema’s Hammond. Throughout the set Wayne Proctor was an imperturbable figure on drums laying down his complex rhythms and fills and acting as the bedrock to a sound that is becoming more and more grooved and confident.
They ripped it up with classic numbers like ‘More Than I Can Take’ with Nimmo’s funk laden guitar riffs and some stunning lines from bassist Lindsay Coulson as well as the soulful ‘Long History Of Love’ and the new material hit a similar spot, fitting perfectly into the King King vein of soul-infused Blues with ‘Hurricane’ the perfect mix of Blues and riff-rock. The closer, as ever, was their incredible version of Clapton’s ‘Old Love’ replete with a ‘proper’ guitar solo that showed exactly why Nimmo is so highly rated by his peers – power, subtlety, pace and a wonderful sense of timing, he took the crowd up and down like puppets and even used silence as a weapon drawing out tension before crashing riffs took over again.
Earlier the crowd were treated to an excellent set by Laurence Jones. Slight and almost frail looking but with a voice that is more confident every time I see him. His guitar playing is remarkable and it is plain to see that this kid is going to be a major star. He did a fine version of Lead Belly’s ‘Good Morning Blues’, giving it a new edge and shying away from a note for note copy of everyone else’s version (he will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall at the Lead Belly Fest) and his brilliant version of Dylan/Hendrix’ ‘All Along The Watchtower’ while in between his own material shows real talent. The song for his uncle, ‘Whisper In The Sky’, is heart wrenching and emotive but he seems equally at home with the harder stuff too. The crowd loved him and it was a real pleasure to hear a young man with such skills enjoying playing and getting the feedback he deserves.
The Talking Heads is rapidly becoming my favourite venue – good sound, excellent (and reasonably priced) beer and attracting better and better talent.
Nights like these are why live music is vital and vibrant, Leaving a gig with the music still reverberating and a physical buzz proves you are alive and there is no feeling like it.
