King King – live @ the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh – review
That was weird. Not the music. That was uniformly excellent. I’m talking about being at a gig. My first one in over eight years since I started caring for my now deceased wife. But some things never change. The fat Kevin Bridges look-a-like, oot on day release from Glasgow managing the Britain’s Got Talent style feat of non-stop talking whilst couping copious pints of lager doon his throat without pausing for breath. Or looking at the stage. The mobile phones were oot in mass although I was impressed at the folk who brought tablets along with them. Well done. Thankfully there was also a whole lot of music.
No-one in the Scottish blues world hasn’t heard of Gerry Jablonski. He’s been on the go for aeons but opened the show tonight with his Electric Band and for those of who love some moothie action, the interplay between the guitar and the harmonic work of Pete Narojczyk was outstanding. A short sharp shock of blues rock that should have a few more folk catching their next Edinburgh show in March.
The room was pretty crowded for Mr Jablonski but once ‘Highway To Hell’ started pumping oot the speakers then it was a full on crush as the bar emptied and the sold out crowd packed in for the arrival of King King. And they didn’t hang about, piling straight into the hit single that should have been ‘(She Don’t) Give Me No Lovin’. Which grammatically implies that vocalist / guitarist Alan Nimmo is, in fact, getting some lovin’. His wife was certainly doon the front although he left the heavy lifting to his brother Stevie Nimmo who, broken arm or no broken arm, was on roadie duties. Nimmo junior also seemed to genuinely gobsmacked at the sell out show as he warmly thanked the 900 strong audience. They’ve reached a point in their career where it feels like a tribal gathering (or in this case a Gathering of the Clans) with most of the crowd knowing all the songs inside out and the band / audience dynamics a perfect fit.
It shouldn’t really be a surprise as that all hard work means that a King King show now involves no chaff and off the back of their best album to date, “Exile & Grace”, they’re only a Radio 2 A list play away from breaking through to the mainstream. Alan Nimmo has plenty of form as a live performer going back a couple of decades with the Nimmo Brothers and King King but the current lineup of rhythm section Wayne Proctor (drums), bassist Lindsay Coulson and new boy Jonny Dyke on keyboards is probably the best conglomeration yet. With the keyboards mixed high, the Hammond organ and honky tonk piano pushes things along allowing space for Nimmo to shine on guitar.
But it’s the songs that count and a set list chock full of fabulous songs took on blues, rock, soul and funk, with the songs from the new album slotting in seamlessly alongside the older material. ‘You Stopped The Rain’, ‘Stranger To Love’ and ‘Long Time Running’ were absolute standouts and ninety minutes in the company of King King just flashed by. This could be the year that King King get promoted to the big leagues with another UK tour booked for April through June and an Autumn trip around Academy sized venues with eighties rockers Europe.
Photo Credit: © Laurence Harvey
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