King King’s extensive touring schedule has included this autumn jaunt to some new places including what Alan Nimmo suggested was their first ever visit to the County town of Berkshire. With no London date, a trip on the Elizabeth line was an easy one to catch the blues rockers who are one of my very favourite of the newer breed of bands. For a Sunday night, it was extremely well attended with a crowd of mature years, though the venue is not the most salubrious and the dark red, blue and purple stage lighting made photography a challenge all night.

As a bonus the marvellous These Wicked Rivers were in support and their own t-shirts much in evidence. Any newcomers to them might have been bamboozled by their striking image, looking like an outlaw gang from the Old West in their hats, overcoats and beards, on a stage decorated with lampshades and soft furnishings.

They opened with ‘Force of Nature’ and ‘Shine On’ with a deep and dark, yet retro sound. Guitarist Arran Day excelled while the slow and brooding ‘When the War is Won’ showed another side to them. The only issue was with the sound mix as the drums in particular somewhat drowned out gentlemanly singer John Hartwell, whose voice is rich and full of warmth but not the most powerful.

‘Black Gold’, which always reminds me of the Kris Barras Band, and ‘The Riverboat Man’ were more accessible NWOCR-style songs and it was easy to see why they have been playlisted by classic rock radio stations, but for me they saved the best to last. With keyboard player Rich Wilson adding some harmonica, ‘Testify’ was a bit grungier but a real grower, and ‘Don’t Pray For Me’ a southern-style epic that progressed from a keyboard intro and slow start, then Arran exploded into life late song with an epic solo before they slipped in a bit of Neil Young’s ‘Hey Hey My My’ over its seven plus minutes. A truly excellent support.

After their usual ‘Highway to Hell’ intro King King opened with a couple of shorter songs before the longer epics took over, in ‘More Than I Can Take’ with some looser grooves and Alan Nimmo trading a few licks with brother Stevie, then the strong choruses of ‘Broken’, joking the title summed up his state, recovering from a bout of food poisoning. His voice did sound a little strained trying to reach its usual smoothness and he was helped out by some fine backing vocals, yet I swiftly stopped noticing.

On a set where all albums would be covered, the intro to ‘Waking Up’ instantly got people clapping along while there was excellent work both on piano and organ by Jonny Dyke. Whereas ‘Lose Control’ was a tasty rocker like Bad Company playing a Stones riff, ‘A Long History Of Love extended to 10 minutes with a lengthy jam with solos on organ and guitar, Alan stretching out and repeating themes in that fluid yet always controlled manner.

After chiding those who complained at its slow genesis we even got a preview of a song from the forthcoming album, ‘Cried Out For Love’. A straight ahead rocker with a fine though scarcely bluesy solo, it took them still further away from their roots, even reminding me more of Y and T who were on my mind having seen them a couple of days previously.

In contrast ‘Lay With Me’ was almost gospel-like, again with prominent organ before ‘You Stopped The Rain’, his tribute to Stevie’s cancer battle a few years back, having everything- from brilliant vocal harmonies at the start, Alan going into a superb solo then pulling it back to the main guitar melody seamlessly to close the song. ‘Rush Hour’ was equally good, Alan conducting a chorus of ‘who-oah’s.

Both the above are established fan favourites that will surely be in any set, but my own candidate is the more recent ‘I Will Not Fall’ and after a funky intro from Jonny and new drummer Jon Lodge, it boasted a storming melodic chorus hook and Stevie for once taking the solo at length before the brothers combined.

Last time I saw King King at Dingwalls 12 months ago, I was well and truly cheesed off that support Danny Bryant was indulged to overrun so badly that they had to truncate their set and miss out ‘Stranger To Love’. Fortunately this time the 12 minute epic was present featuring Alan’s party piece as he played quietly to a virtual standstill before picking up the pace and ending with another of those lengthy mellifluous solos.

I wondered what we might get for an encore- perhaps ‘Old Love’ or ‘Let Love In’- but Alan paid a very heartfelt tribute to recently passed young blues guitarist Matt Long with whom the band were genuine friends. As a result they dedicated to his family the poignant ballad ‘Find Your Way Home’, Alan and backing vocalists sounding very much like Thunder’s Danny Bowes, while his solo was again a sweet one. After a typically excellent set, it was a very nice memory to savour while awaiting a new album and tour next year.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)