Where oh where do I start? When sound engineer Balding Bloke told me that Klout had slated 31 tracks for the night’s entertainment I half thought he was joking but also thought that they’ll have no problems with enough material for an encore! Oh how wrong one can be…
Klout are without any doubt the most improved band of the year and much of this is down to two things. Firstly the superb sound engineering by Balding Bloke has transformed them beyond all recognition and secondly is their confidence and none more so than vocalists Kev and Keri. These two are fabulous when they let rip together with numbers such as “Creep”, “With Or Without You” and Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” and, of course, they also do solos.
There are far too many songs to list in total but Kev belted out the Kaiser Chiefs “Predict A Riot”, Oasis’ “Wonderwall” & “Cigarettes and Alcohol”, a great bass rift filled the bar with The Jam’s “Town Like Malice” and then, oh yes, Simple Minds “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”. Back on came Keri to round off the second set with “Summer Of 69″, “Hard To Handle” and finished with a great rendition of the Kings of Leon’s “Sex On Fire”.
Enough? Not for these guys, more classic songs followed including the rock version of Britney Spears “Baby One More Time” and their final song when Elvis does the classic AC/DC “Whole Lotta Rosie”. The entire packed bar screamed and whistled for more and the band looked quite taken aback by the rapturous reception they had received nevertheless they duly obliged with a couple of numbers but this time it was Kev’s turn to perform “Sex On Fire”.
What an excellent finish to a very steamy night, both the band and their fans were, not surprisingly, all covered in sweat so intense had the dancing been throughout their entire performance and the reasonably fresh air outside was a welcome change. Klout with be back in a couple of months on Saturday 7th November, I just wonder what they’ll hit us with next time?
The Kings’ regulars are probably the luckiest people in Lincolnshire, maybe even the East Midlands! Not only do they have fabulous hosts in Richard and Sharon, they also provide the best music free of charge every weekend and they don’t come much better than Mister Pink wherever you may go.
Quiet and staid does not exist in their vocabulary, Mister Pink is power funk, rock and blues at its very best covering the likes of Cream, Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones but also mixing in their own songs in a seamless blend of quality entertainment. I asked Si Pink for his set list after the gig and do you know what the response was? “What set list? We just play what the audience like!” Believe me there are not many bands that can make such a confident statement.
How many encores did we have? I lost count, the holiday weekend busy bar wanted more so Mister Pink duly provided. Of course we must not forget the superb bass playing of Jules Pink and Balding Bloke was in his element sound engineering when Pauly Pink let rip with a storming drum solo. I don’t know what they feed them on in Norfolk however it seems to be an excellent diet for drummers!
Now here’s a teaser for you…whilst we were clearing up afterwards I happened to mention that he’d forgotten to use his harmonica. That was it, straight to his kit and “Not Fade Away” commenced, Jules struck up his acoustic guitar and the remaining customers and bar staff all immediately broke into song…Most likely we won’t see these guys again until next year, that’s going to be an awful long wait for many of us!
What a start to the holiday weekend…can we cope with another three nights of this? Crossfire are a constantly busy band because they are very good at what they do and they have a big following in the Louth area.
Kicking off with U2’s Vertigo they followed up with the Kings of Leon, Ugly Kid Joe and the Otis Redding “Hard to Handle” version by The Black Crowes…excellent. Some Tom Robinson, Golden Earring, Thin Lizzy and something very rarely heard done by a covers band, The Jeff Healey Band’s “Confidence Man”. Most unusual and it certainly had the non-rock fans puzzled! The Stereophonics “Local Boy in the Photo” was followed by Greene Day’s “American Idiot” and the first set came to an end with The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary”. Not bad eh?
The classic Oasis “Cigarettes and Alcohol” soon had the now very busy bar bouncing along, a bit more Stereophonics, and yet another unusual cover of John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Get A Leg Up” before the late, great John Peel’s all time favourite “Teenage Kicks”. More, there’s more, another Green Day song “Basket Case” and one of my personal all time favourites, Australian band Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?”
Is there a band not covering The Fratellis “Chelsea Dagger” these days, but how many could follow it up with Deep Purple’s “Black Night” and then into “Sex On Fire”? Woohoo…Crossfire were steaming with Kings of Leon “Use Somebody”, The Stones’ Honky Tonk Woman and their grande finale of two AC/DC songs “You Shook Me” and “Whole Lotta Rosie” had the crowd screaming for more…it didn’t matter to anyone that they were repeats from earlier on, everyone was simply enjoying themselves.
For those who missed Crossfire they’re back on Saturday 5th December 2009. Don’t forget to mark it in your diary!
Edited 2009.09.01
This August Bank Holiday weekend features four nights of music at The Kings.
Friday night sees Crossfire from Grimsby playing a mixture of modern and classic rock covers with a bit of a blues twist. Crossfire had a successful tour of Holland recently and expect to travel even further afield soon.
On Saturday Mister Pink!!!, just what can we say about these guys? If you’ve never seen them then you have to…Outrageous, funky, sexy, great vocals, brilliant guitarmanship and thumping drums…you get the picture, a tremendous evening’s entertainment.
Louth’s own Klout get an airing on Sunday evening so if you fancy some Jam, Police, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Blur, Oasis, Kings of Leon, Stone Roses & Razorlight, then don’t be late…and for those fans of Simple Minds we just happen to have heard them practising and you’re in for a delight.
Monday is the culmination of British Superbikes Party In The Park weekend at Cadwell Park therefore expect a Kings Head evening of classic rock music from our own Balding Bloke.
NOTE: For those coming into the town on Monday evening please ensure you have pre-arranged transport, for some reason the local taxis have an aversion to working on this night!
Just where does time go to? Unbelievably it is almost 11/2 years since Feedback last appeared at The Kings, where have they been, what have they been up to? Well, I had heard that they had turned to the very dark and hard side of rock music and possibly The Kings’ regulars may not like it, hey ho let’s give ‘em a go!
So what did we get? A well-rehearsed mixture of traditional rock, some awesome Punk (was Punk ever meant to be so refined?) and even a couple of heavy, heavy tracks which the audience loved, altogether a great mixture of old and new. Their set list has disappeared therefore it would be unfair to single out any specific tracks except for their finale…the Xmas 1984 hit from The Toy Dolls, Nellie The Elephant…brilliant, absolutely brilliant and a perfect curtain closer.
Obviously we do not want to wait another 18 months to see them again, no we won’t let that happen! Thanks to Keith and the guys for a superb night, a special mention must go to their sound engineer Mike who delivered a fabulous and flawless performance for a very tight and professional band.
Understandably Feedback are in great demand for functions being able to deliver various genres of music for specific occasions, if you want to know more about them you can find information here.