Years since their last show in Newcastle, The King Blues returned last night as part of their first ever headline tour. Playing at Academy 2 - a more intimate, upstairs section of the O2 Academy with a capacity of only four hundred - they were welcomed to what must have been a sell out crowd, who by-passed the celtic punk group Dropkick Murphys in favour of the Londoners. First up on the tiny stage were Brighton native, eight-piece The Meow Meows. Delivering only what can be described as a short set of sunshine, the room became a bubble of happiness. Mixing ska, rock, pop, and just about everything else, this greatly unknown band made their mark on the dancing, bouncing audience. They opened the evening perfectly.
Things got a little more heavy when Moral Dilemma took the stage. Mohawk gelled and studs in place they oozed cool as they set up. A few songs in and it was clear they weren't happy with the sound guy, the vocals and drummer were too quiet for their standards and the frontman eventually resorted to asking mid set if he could "TURN IT THE FUCK UP PLEASE?" Although, the crowd were giving no signs of complaint. Circle pits and pogoing erupted as the punk/hardcore/metal fused on stage. There's no denying the band's talent. Every note, every chord, every beat was precise. Fast fingers and hands with a hell of a lot of attitude. A song about police brutality raised the extremely unfortunate incident of Ian Tomlinson and everyone in the venue either raised their drinks or applauded as a mark of respect.
The final support came from Mouthwash. A fantastic ska (mixed with) hip hop (mixed with) punk style band, who like The King Blues wave the flag for London and everything that entails. Although being around for near enough fifteen years, and despite their musical genius, they seem like the kind of lads who could be your mates. A band to drink to, be merry and just have a good time. Friendships came to mind as frontman Nipa Fry sings "aslong as you're around me I got no fear" - this band could just become the soundtrack to the summer.
Next up are the band everyone came for. It's not the first time we'd seen them that night, they'd been in the side lines watching all three support acts, and even came up on stage to sing and dance along with Mouthwash. The King Blues first song got everyone's adrenaline pumping as Intro from first album Under The Fog lead into Blood on my Hands - a hard hitting anti-establishment anthem. Let's Hang the Landlord describes frontman Itch's life as a teenager, he sings about the rough time he went through, selling The Big Issue while living on the streets in the most cheerful way possible. "This ain't no sob story, so don't reach for the tissue" he chants and 400 people scream it back to him. The story the lyrics tell see a young Itch enter a squat where he and his comrades would get up to all kinds of mischief, charging tourists a pound for a photograph, blagging their way into gigs and so on. It's a feel good song proving that every cloud has a silver lining.
After new song Kissing Frogs, the opening to very first single Mr Music Man receives a hearty response as the reggae feeling tune continues. The crowd knows every word by heart - the dedication is almost visible - and it's obvious that all those years with no Newcastle KB gigs were a sad time for geordie fans. Headbutt is the new song which more people know, what with both Mike Davies and Zane Lowe from Radio 1 giving it generous air time. Never the less, Itch goes through the chorus, "the lyrics go 'when she kissed me if felt like a headbutt' " he said, "so when I say 'it felt like a' you say.." "HEADBUTT!" The crowd know their stuff.
But the main feeling is always love. The band give a short talk on how there are groups such as the BNP which deliver a message of hate, and have racist, fascist views - groups which we will stand against. "Although I know anyone clever enough to buy a ticket to one of our gigs would be clever enough to know these people are not ones we want representing us." Itch says to which cheers are the response. Both band and audience know that the BNP have a so called ideology which should of been abolished in the previous millennium, they both know that they are a group who feed on fear and manipulate innocent people. And so I Got Love was welcomed to screams and cheers, the crowd yet again reciting every word in perfect unison.
The samba style song The Streets are Ours got everyone in a revolutionary mood before slowing down the set with Out of Luck and Underneath this Lamppost Light, a tale of love in the capital. Following are more songs of camaraderie, friendship and love with My Boulder and Save the World, get the Girl. As always, the band have giving this evening their all.
The encore was greatly needed, as the audience clearly hadn't been prescribed the full dosage required. Itch came on stage to recite an empowering poem about women entitled Five Bottles of Shampoo, before stating, "We've just realised that it's been so long since we were in Newcastle, that we should of played more old ones." He laughs, "So if you can put up with one more poem...?" It was What if Punk Never Happened? a poem present on the band's second album. A poem to describe what life would be like if punk wasn't around, how corporation had taken over, made the poor even poorer, taken away civil liberties, "they made them carry ID cards to state where their from, a if by being born they had done something wrong." the poem has a motivational end, "don't let anyone tell you you've got to give in, cos you can make a difference, you can change everything."
The King Blues are possibly the most inspiring and uplifting band to emerge since punk began.
