I remember my introduction to the song ‘Bam Bam’ quite well,
when I heard it I did a little chuckle, the same kind of chuckle I did when I first
heard Mumford & Sons, retorting “that will never catch on”. People that
know me will tell you that I have the attitude of always being right, but on
both these occasions, I was completely wrong and 2 and a bit years later I
found myself in a very cold room dancing to the said song while King Charles
played to a packed out Wedgewood Rooms.
A year or so before this, King Charles had visited The
Wedgewood Rooms (at this point, I was fully converted) to play ClubNME, a gig
that is way up there with some of my favorites His onstage braggadocio is laboriously
backed up, showmanship only you would imagine seeing among established artists;
he held the room in the palm of his hand, with ease. In his presence once more,
the story unfolds
.
.
A whole hour before doors, outside of The Wedgewood Rooms a
queue formed of a middle aged man, a huddle of teenage girls and the teenage
boy looking awkwardly on, it was ever growing. Inside the venue, final sound
checks were being finalized and merchandise was being frustratingly counted,
while out of nowhere like a sudden smoke King Charles appears, excited and
animated 11 days into his 30 day tour of the UK, props to him for the amount of
energy nearly 2 weeks into the jaunt with another 2 on the horizon.
As the room gently filled itself with the broadest aged
crowd I had seen since Gabrielle Aplin (3 weeks previously) first act Giovanna,
who if I am not mistaken is a close relative of the man himself, took to the stage
to play a 4 track set that aligned itself somewhere between Ellie Goulding and
Florence Welch, nicely seconded by Alt J. A commanding voice that is slightly
left short by stage persona, but it’s nothing a few lessons with KC wouldn't fix, a definitive future.
Next up were Story Books, influences formed out of the
embers of the late noughties indie, think Bombay Bicycle Club, The XX and a
vocal that sounds like Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend. Enticing tracks, steeped
with emotion with added in between song banter, we all like a band that can
joke in between songs, or while tuning their guitars (you can’t get the staff
these days). Well worth your time; check out the track ‘Glory & Growth’.
Now for the headline fight, the lights dimmed down and the
introductions followed, a pitch black Wedgewood Rooms staged was filled with
King Charles’ foot soldiers, with them in toe he followed. Like a true king
leading his men into war he took no prisoners from the first chord, the battle
was already won it seemed. Instantly charming the crowd into ‘Love blood’ then competently hypnotizing every female in the radius of the room with ‘Mississippi Isabel’
with added crowd sing-a-long.
What’s most clear a year on is how tight King Charles a band
have become, expanding slightly but without a need to know, no bum notes or
eerie silences, the back-line was taut and without fault. If you translate the
music King Charles play to the sold out audience who were watching you’d be mistaken to think it was just sweaty
teenagers, as either side of me through the majority of the gig were pockets of
middle aged women gushing at KC’s every move, and with reason.
A quick guitar change led King Charles slaying into ballad ‘Polar
Bear’, enticing the crowd once more, the sheer power of the track threw the
audience into a quite uncontrollable frenzy which was then soaked up by the
band and prolonged into a cataclysm of break downs and a stage dive.
As the lights dimmed
once more, and King Charles fixed his hair (that’s a lot of hair) his dulcet
tones introduced everybody to Mumford duet ‘The Brightest Lights’ at one point
managing to silence himself and leave The Wedgewood Rooms crowd to sing the
chorus for themselves. A diamond in the ever glistening King Charles crown ‘Bam
Bam’ followed alongside ‘Beating Hearts’ ‘Coco Chitty’ and the lyrically
brilliant ‘Ivory Road’, things then began to wind itself up, in the same sense
as jack in the box.
When you talk about encores you imagine them to be short and
sweet, uneventful, enough to send the crowd home smiling, but not tonight, King
Charles had different ideas. He returned to the stage a solo artist, playing
alone to a crowd that looked on deflated, momentarily deflated, He then
introduced his foot soldiers back to the stage and we were all treated to the
brilliant KC rendition of Billy Joel classic ‘We Didn't Start The Fire’ but the
story doesn't stop there. The first verse whipped the crowd into a what can
only be explained as unequivocal hysteria which led to an extended bridge as
this caused 2 teenage girls to faint (something I’m told isn't a regular occurrence
at King Charles shows) that aside, the song is adapted lyrically, to which a
credit to King Charles himself who in 3 words said his bit for Thatcher,
in jest, maybe, who knows.
And just as we were all ready for all out war the lights
went up, the dust was settling, the empty cups were being picked up, and the
girls who had fainted returned for a hug. In short, The Wedgewood Rooms had
once again had the roof blown from it and it was gently resting itself back,
all thanks to a brilliant performance by King Charles.
Do you remember that
feeling when you were 15 and you left a venue covered in sweat and thinking ‘what
just happened and why’...Well, that’s the feeling I have about Kings Charles at
The Wedgewood Rooms, April 11th 2013. March on, squire.
