Since I last saw them down the road at Koko in 2019, not only has the world been transformed forever, but there have been major changes in the King King – the autumn before last they released a new album in ‘Maverick’, continuing their move towards a more mainstream rock direction, and a number of line up changes have included a significant one in the addition of mainman Alan Nimmo’s elder brother and former musical collaborator Stevie as a second guitarist.

An autumn 2021 tour only hit certain parts of the country so this London date, the last night of a tour that had been rearranged at least twice, boasted a healthy crowd and a sense of anticipation.

The night was warmed up very nicely by Canadian support act The Damn Truth who were a new name to me, though last year’s ’Now Or Nowhere’ album is actually their third in a near decade long career. Their visual impact was quite stunning with stylishly vintage rock clobber and some great stage moves, even with a frisson of sexual tension in the air.

Opener ‘This Is Who We Are Now’ was a Joan Jett-esque stomper, and singer Lee-La Baum had a powerful voice in the mould of Janis Joplin, Ann Wilson or, more recently, another previous KK support, Sari Schorr.

At times the early seventies inspired music was stronger on the vibes than the tunes, reminding me of the hotly-tipped but short-lived No Sinner a few years back. However ‘Lonely’ was catchy enough to get a singalong going while ‘Only Love’ and ‘Look Innocent’ – complete with feedback strewn guitar from red-clad Tom Shemer – also made a favourable impression.

They closed with ‘Tomorrow’ which was another storming garage rocker reminding me of Cheap Trick at their rawest. This was a performance that succeeded on a both musical and visual level and the interval chatter saw more than one person express their keenness to see them again.

The rather more known quantity of King King sauntered on stage to AC/DC with Alan Nimmo sporting a huge grin and opened with the distinctly Thunder-esque ‘She Don’t Gimme No Lovin’- interestingly the only number from previous album ‘Exile and Grace’ to stay in the set.

It was immediately apparent that, not only with his second guitar but also prominent backing vocals, Stevie had significantly added to the richness of the band’s sound, while the superb chorus of ‘Fire In My Soul’ was proof of their further move away from pure blues and into a more mainstream, melodic rock direction, as was ‘One World’ which had an almost danceable lightness of touch and was not bluesy in the slightest. It was also noticeable that admirable, studious looking keyboardist Jonny Dyke was playing electric piano more than Hammond on the newer numbers.

However traditional fans would swiftly have been reassured with the more familiar King King signature sounds of ‘Waking Up’ and a pair of lengthy epics, ‘Rush Hour’, with the crowd joining in on the ’who-oahs’ and ‘A Long History Of Love‘ where, after playing with relative restraint early on, Alan responded to a Hammond organ solo from Jonny with one of those lengthy but melodic solos that never outstay their welcome.

‘You Stopped The Rain’ received an even better reception, not least as his brother who the song was written in tribute to was now on stage, and though ‘Everything Will Be All Right’ for all its positive lyrical message was the least memorable song of the night, a trip deep back into their past for ‘Coming Home’, with its ‘rest your eyes’ chorus and more fine Hammond work, was more satisfying.

However, as a fan of the more mainstream melodic rock direction they have been heading in, a pair of new songs were outstanding and provided my abiding memory of the evening in ‘Whatever It Takes To Survive’ with a big bank of vocals from the two brothers and bassist Zander Greenshields and that rarity in King King music, a brief harmony guitar solo; and the strong chorus hooks of ‘I Will Not Fall’, where Stevie was let off the leash, attacking his only solo of the night with relish. The main set then concluded with old favourite ’Let Love In’ with that joyful white soul feel to it.

There was a surprise for the first encore as Alan, alone with Jonny and with Stevie only on backing vocals, sang a sparse ‘When My Winter Comes’ , before the epic , eleven minute ‘Stranger To Love’ with Alan playing his usual party piece, slowing the tempo down and strumming in muted fashion before building up to a lengthy climactic guitar solo.

Although their evolution in style to something more akin to Thunder or FM may offend some of their original fans, they have not left their roots behind and even blues purists would surely have been impressed. Allied to the added power of the new line up, I certainly found my enthusiasm for the band rekindled and my only regret was it was the last night of the tour as my first reaction was to want to see it all over again.

Review and photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024

ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)

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