Recording the exclamation point
King King – Live (2CD&DVD)
King King – Live (2CD&DVD)
"You came!" exclaims Alan Nimmo in both delight and pride as more than eleven hundred bluesy souls in a close to capacity Glasgow O2 ABC yell their Welcome Home appreciation for Nimmo and King King, a band that Glasgow has adopted as their ane.
Given the association and bond Alan Nimmo and his three Kingly amigos (Lindsay Coulson – bass, Bob Fridzema – keyboards, backing vocals, Wayne Proctor – drums, backing vocals) have with Glasgow it would seem a no brainer that King King’s first live album would be lifted from their emotional, firing on all four blues charged cylinders gig on the 14th of May 2016 (which is accompanied by the equally impressive DVD from the band’s 13th of April 2016 show at the Picturedrome in Holmfirth).
But nothing is ever that simple and it was a glitchy recording road that eventually led to Glasgow…
The original idea to capture the first night at Holmfirth fell by the wayside due to recording and monitor gremlins, leaving next to no useable audio.
The second night, assigned for filming of the DVD, nearly went the same way until the stars aligned at the eleventh hour and the band delivered a sparkling set, superbly filmed by Cat & Owl Films.
With Holmfirth a non-audio starter shows at Lincoln and Gateshead were recorded, but as Glasgow approached and the ticket sales went beyond what even King King were anticipating it became an easy decision on where to mike up for live album release.
While the DVD and 2CD audio are set-list similar (only a one song switch between each show), having two different performances in one live package, from a band this good, is a win-win and a double blues rock whammy.
Further, as added bonus, Holmfirth features 'Old Love' (the Eric Clapton song King King started to take ownership of almost as soon as they started to cover the beautiful melodic blues number) and the band’s best delivery to date of 'You Stopped the Rain,' the poignant hard-pop blues number from King King’s outstanding 2015 release Reaching for the Light.
But don’t take FabricationsHQ's "best version" word for it – Stevie Nimmo, who was at Holmfirth and working as his wee brother’s guitar tech on the night, made the same prideful remark to Alan after 'You Stopped the Rain' had been performed (for those that might not know, the song was written by Alan for Stevie when the latter had a serious health scare).
While the Holmfirth DVD contains such special moments, the recorded Glasgow show was a special concert, start to finish.
From punchy opener 'Lose Control' to the show closing sing-a-long encore of 'Let Love In,' you couldn’t get the smile off Alan Nimmo’s face.
Riding on the wave of those eleven hundred plus Glaswegian voices, King King delivered their finest hour (and a half) to date and one of the tightest and on-point band performances this reviewer and music fan has witnessed (and now heard again) in forty years of gig-going.
The band’s on-stage energy was tangible and the musicianship impeccable, whether on the cranked up 'More Than I Can Take,' the soulful heavy blues of 'Rush Hour' (the "Weegie Chorus" in full voice) or the not one but two tour-de-force numbers the band carry in their live repertoire – the powerful slow blues meets classic rock piece 'Stranger to Love' and 'Long History of Love.'
The latter, the band's atmospheric blues rock ballad, features a soulful yet bright-with-vibrato organ solo from Bob Fridzema that sets up Alan Nimmo’s own, melodically phrased and impassioned solo beautifully and perfectly.
On the subject of King King's gifted keyboardist it’s hard to overstate just how much Bob Fridzema brings to the band in terms of sound and musical chemistry – and when you have one of the best rhythm sections in the blues business courtesy of Lindsay Coulson (bottom end bass notes that fill the spaces and mid-range notes and tone that add the sonic punctuation) and Wayne Proctor (a drummer who brings serious groove to the party), it’s not hard to see or hear why this is the best British blues rock band currently performing...
Given the association and bond Alan Nimmo and his three Kingly amigos (Lindsay Coulson – bass, Bob Fridzema – keyboards, backing vocals, Wayne Proctor – drums, backing vocals) have with Glasgow it would seem a no brainer that King King’s first live album would be lifted from their emotional, firing on all four blues charged cylinders gig on the 14th of May 2016 (which is accompanied by the equally impressive DVD from the band’s 13th of April 2016 show at the Picturedrome in Holmfirth).
But nothing is ever that simple and it was a glitchy recording road that eventually led to Glasgow…
The original idea to capture the first night at Holmfirth fell by the wayside due to recording and monitor gremlins, leaving next to no useable audio.
The second night, assigned for filming of the DVD, nearly went the same way until the stars aligned at the eleventh hour and the band delivered a sparkling set, superbly filmed by Cat & Owl Films.
With Holmfirth a non-audio starter shows at Lincoln and Gateshead were recorded, but as Glasgow approached and the ticket sales went beyond what even King King were anticipating it became an easy decision on where to mike up for live album release.
While the DVD and 2CD audio are set-list similar (only a one song switch between each show), having two different performances in one live package, from a band this good, is a win-win and a double blues rock whammy.
Further, as added bonus, Holmfirth features 'Old Love' (the Eric Clapton song King King started to take ownership of almost as soon as they started to cover the beautiful melodic blues number) and the band’s best delivery to date of 'You Stopped the Rain,' the poignant hard-pop blues number from King King’s outstanding 2015 release Reaching for the Light.
But don’t take FabricationsHQ's "best version" word for it – Stevie Nimmo, who was at Holmfirth and working as his wee brother’s guitar tech on the night, made the same prideful remark to Alan after 'You Stopped the Rain' had been performed (for those that might not know, the song was written by Alan for Stevie when the latter had a serious health scare).
While the Holmfirth DVD contains such special moments, the recorded Glasgow show was a special concert, start to finish.
From punchy opener 'Lose Control' to the show closing sing-a-long encore of 'Let Love In,' you couldn’t get the smile off Alan Nimmo’s face.
Riding on the wave of those eleven hundred plus Glaswegian voices, King King delivered their finest hour (and a half) to date and one of the tightest and on-point band performances this reviewer and music fan has witnessed (and now heard again) in forty years of gig-going.
The band’s on-stage energy was tangible and the musicianship impeccable, whether on the cranked up 'More Than I Can Take,' the soulful heavy blues of 'Rush Hour' (the "Weegie Chorus" in full voice) or the not one but two tour-de-force numbers the band carry in their live repertoire – the powerful slow blues meets classic rock piece 'Stranger to Love' and 'Long History of Love.'
The latter, the band's atmospheric blues rock ballad, features a soulful yet bright-with-vibrato organ solo from Bob Fridzema that sets up Alan Nimmo’s own, melodically phrased and impassioned solo beautifully and perfectly.
On the subject of King King's gifted keyboardist it’s hard to overstate just how much Bob Fridzema brings to the band in terms of sound and musical chemistry – and when you have one of the best rhythm sections in the blues business courtesy of Lindsay Coulson (bottom end bass notes that fill the spaces and mid-range notes and tone that add the sonic punctuation) and Wayne Proctor (a drummer who brings serious groove to the party), it’s not hard to see or hear why this is the best British blues rock band currently performing...
Wayne Proctor and his House of Tone colleagues have also done a stellar recording (Andy Banfield) and mixing (Proctor and Steve Wright) job on both the DVD and CD.
More significantly the quality and clarity of the Glasgow audio mix is nothing short of what would be expected from the largest and most expensive of studios with top-line gear; the mix places the listener slap bang in the middle of the stage, sonically surrounded by the band and backed by on-the-night crowd reaction (for the record, no fan voice or band member performance was doctored in the studio – what you hear is exactly what went down on the night).
The only exception to the near perfect performance rule at Glasgow was from Alan Nimmo’s vocal attrition.
While the kilted and suitably booted front man was on six-string fire the entire night his big, bluesy voice (still strong at its bari-tenor core) was shot on the throatier notes (successful post-tour surgery has since removed the problems however, providing Alan Nimmo with a clean bill of vocal health).
That said by three songs in and lifted by both the crowd and his on-stage adrenaline, Alan Nimmo's vocal rasp was close to unnoticeable (and he was at his soulful and vocal best for the band’s emotionally charged cover of Frankie Miler’s 'Jealousy’).
2016 has been an exceptional year for King King – an attention grabbing support slot on Thunder’s UK arena dates, a well received UK spring tour, a five trophy haul at the British Blues Awards (including best album for Reaching for the Light) and a hotly anticipated UK winter tour.
It's therefore fitting, and the perfect exclamation point to a year when a wider and larger rock based audience sat up and took notice, that King King should also deliver an exceptional live album.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
More significantly the quality and clarity of the Glasgow audio mix is nothing short of what would be expected from the largest and most expensive of studios with top-line gear; the mix places the listener slap bang in the middle of the stage, sonically surrounded by the band and backed by on-the-night crowd reaction (for the record, no fan voice or band member performance was doctored in the studio – what you hear is exactly what went down on the night).
The only exception to the near perfect performance rule at Glasgow was from Alan Nimmo’s vocal attrition.
While the kilted and suitably booted front man was on six-string fire the entire night his big, bluesy voice (still strong at its bari-tenor core) was shot on the throatier notes (successful post-tour surgery has since removed the problems however, providing Alan Nimmo with a clean bill of vocal health).
That said by three songs in and lifted by both the crowd and his on-stage adrenaline, Alan Nimmo's vocal rasp was close to unnoticeable (and he was at his soulful and vocal best for the band’s emotionally charged cover of Frankie Miler’s 'Jealousy’).
2016 has been an exceptional year for King King – an attention grabbing support slot on Thunder’s UK arena dates, a well received UK spring tour, a five trophy haul at the British Blues Awards (including best album for Reaching for the Light) and a hotly anticipated UK winter tour.
It's therefore fitting, and the perfect exclamation point to a year when a wider and larger rock based audience sat up and took notice, that King King should also deliver an exceptional live album.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ