Another Triumphant Performance
The rise of the King Blues has been fast and impressive. Two years ago they played a Saturday afternoon slot in the Rock Sound Cave and were already showing signs that they had the potential to go on to much bigger things. It’s often you can see a band at a festival who you think have got what it takes, it’s also frustratingly regular to then wonder why it never happened. The acclaim and exposure the King Blues are currently enjoying, from appearances at Reading and Leeds to playlisted songs on Radio 1, is no surprise and here at Guilfest they round off the weekend by pulling in one of the biggest Rock Sound Cave crowds of the three days.
For those who have seen the King Blues before this had everything you’d expect, with the band delivering an engaging and energetic set which saw them very much at home as a festival headline act. As ever a strong political and equality message was present, including the call for all in the crowd to shout “fuck off” to the BNP.
The setlist contained all the big hitters from their two albums, the brilliant rock anthem ‘Let’s Hang the Landlord’, the reggae-driven ‘Mr. Music Man’ and recent single ‘I Got Love’ all appeared early on.
‘My Boulder’ and second album title track ‘Save the World, Get the Girl’ received big reactions midway through the set, but for me a highlight will always be the punk-based debut album track ‘Under the Fog’. When graduating to headliner status you need to add that little something extra to make it a night to remember, and the King Blues achieved this in the form of an excellent cover of recent Dizzee Rascal number 1 single ‘Bonkers’.
The stage was then set for the traditional climax to a King Blues show, where ‘Taking over’ is played, the crowd split in half and asked by front man Jonny Fox to sing the chorus line, each time one side of the tent encouraged to outdo the other. We’ve seen it plenty of times before with the King Blues, but that doesn’t stop it from being a simple and effective way of sending the crowd off into the night with a smile, ensuring the memory of yet another great performance from the King Blues lives long.