There are certain genres of music guaranteed to get toes tapping but none more so than twelve bar blues and The House Shakers are great exponents of it exemplified by their tremendous Robert Johnson track Sweet Home Chicago…fabulous. Classic track followed classic track including the first-ever 1959 Motown hit Barrett Strong’s Money (that’s what I want) and a real surprise and delight was thrown-up with R.E.M.’s This One Goes Out To The One I Love. A great night was in full swing when inexplicably vocalist Allen Jarvis suddenly lost his voice and their second set came to an unexpected early finish! Get well soon and we look forward to having the pleasure of your MAX R&B again at The Kings.
There’s a very good reason for this belated blog…I’ve been waiting for someone else to write it! Now why just would I be waiting for someone else to write it you may well ask?
Quite simply I had to leave the gig since I only heard 30 minutes of it and asked someone else to write it up for me however that has not appeared yet. So just why did I leave the gig early? Could The Beer Monkeys not play? Actually they sounded pretty competent. Could they sing? Well, not at all bad vocally and the songs I heard were mostly different from the usual run-of-the-mill covers bands and they did execute them well, so what was it?
They were too darned LOUD…loud bordering on being unable to have any meaningful discussion, no matter how short, with anyone. We’ve had loud bands in the past but this was just ridiculous and as I said, I had to leave The Kings for only the second time ever. The first time was because of a very screechy female vocalist who nearly burst my eardrums!
Perhaps if they had used the in-house PA and sound engineer then we would all have been able to have a great night listening to their different covers and musical ability. Honestly I was disappointed to leave since their band name is fantastic with something to live up to plus I had been looking forward to seeing them ever since their details went up on the King’s calendar…better luck next time.
This weekend sees Grimbarian band The House Shakers. If you’ve never seen them before you’re in for a real treat of R&B/Blues/Ballads/Pop/Soul & Funk…they’re great fun, they know how to enjoy themselves and entertain the crowd and if you can’t get your feet tapping to these guys then you’re superglued to the floor!
Lick The Dice have, literally, grown-up at The Kings Head, we have watched them progress from a very talented school rock band into a rock act capable of gracing any stage with their pulsating rhythm & beat.
The new look? They’ve gone back to a 5-piece of 3 guitars, drums and a new lead singer called Whips (sp?). If you have read Friday’s blog you would already have known that Matt Jones had left therefore it was with great interest to meet and hear Whips for the first time. Had we any need to worry? None whatsoever, this guy is pure showmanship and is remarkably in sound and looks like a young Robert Plant plus, I am told, is a huge Ike & Tina fan doing a great Proud Mary…now that would make an interesting spectacle in the Kings.
To the band, loud, extremely loud, loud like I like it:-) They rattled off all their usual covers with aplomb and added Kid Rock’s All Summer Long which even surprised their management! Naturally several of the tracks off their Dirty Rock N Roll album were the order of the day and 2+ hours later their fabulous Golden Earring version of Radar Love cranked into life.
For anyone who has never seen them do this you really have no idea what you have missed since they have adapted it to their style with a 13+ minutes duration and it now contains one of the very best live drum solos anywhere. Balding Bloke wound up his amps as Daniel Moss beat those skins for up to 8 minutes, improvising as he progresses, throwing in a Cozy Powell teaser and totally has the audience mesmerised with his drumming speed and talent…fabulous stuff and what a way to end the Louth Music Festival week at The Kings Head.
A huge thank you to Sharon and Richard for tolerating us all, well done to Balding Bloke who soundly engineered every act from start to finish, all the bands, acts and performers and finally to you the audience, thank you for your support and encouragement, see you at The Louth Music Festival 2010 at The King’s Head Hotel by when all the refurbishments should have been completed.
If you have any bands to suggest for 2010 please contact Sharon.
What a fantastic night of classic, mostly British, rock and pop music with a couple of Motown numbers thrown in for maximum effect by local band maestroes The What.
If you were there no explanation is needed, if you missed Friday 10th July at The Kings then you only have yourself to blame for missing one of the best performances ever seen at this venue as The What rattled off track after track of pure musical gems! Trying to pick stand-out tracks is a nigh impossibility such was the high calibre of music and the glorious sound provided once again by Balding Bloke however my favourite was probably the Joe Cocker version of With a Little Help from My Friends.
And don’t be fooled into thinking that The What can only perform the older classic stuff…The Zutons Valerie and Kaiser Chiefs I Predict A Riot had the walls pulsating as the whole audience joined in which had Anton, Ellie, Paul and Hodge beaming from ear to ear and they deserved nothing less than the huge ovation they received.
As we draw to the end of the Louth Music Festival week at The Kings, tonight see local rock/pop band The What and, if previous appearances are anything to go by, their popularity amongst friends and colleagues should ensure a healthy turn out.
Saturday night sees the return to Louth from Norfolk of the incredibly talented and popular Lick The Dice band however with a new line-up! What? Yes dear reader, The Dice have a new lead singer with the departure of Matt Jones who was head-hunted for a “record company’s” new rock band.
His replacement is 23 years old and we are informed a very able singer with influences from Kiss and Aerosmith plus all the usual Dice specialities.