KING’S X DIG UP SOME CLASSICS FOR NYC SHOW WITH ACCEPT
Of the five or so times I’ve seen King’s X live over the years they’ve only ever played precisely one song from Dogman, their landmark (and my personal fave) album: “Dogman.” Until last night, when their current support tour with reunited German metallers Accept rolled through NYC’s 9 Dollar Beer House BB King’s and the band dug deep into the Dogman catalog to whip out three additional songs from the aforementioned masterpiece: “Pretend,” “Complain,” and “Pillow.” It was a great day to be a King’s X fan, and the nearly-packed room most certainly showed their appreciation. Those songs, mixed in with modern day classics (“Pray,” “Go Tell Somebody”) and the usual staples (“What Is This?”, “Over My Head” complete with audience singalong) made for an awesome hour and 15 minutes of King’s X music. There’s not much more we could’ve asked for from an act that wasn’t even the headliner, but we did anyway and were treated with a non-obligatory encore; “We Were Born to Be Loved,” complete with the always impressive end-section jam out.
There’s not much to say about King’s X that I haven’t already said a million times on this site seeing as I love them to pieces. The eternally young (60!) “Reverend” Doug Pinnick is as intriguing a frontman as ever, fully utilizing his astonishing 234-octave range to go from bellow to shriek despite an icy cold air-conditioned breeze overhead, and captivating the audience as always with his inspiring Church of Rock sermons. Ty Tabor’s riffs and solos are as delectably tasty as ever; dude should write a cookbook about how to whip up such delicious treats, ’cause I sure as hell would like to know. And drummer Jerry Gaskill, the man with the smooth hands, plays with as much dynamic and feel as any drummer I’ve ever seen. Together, the three of them, with their impeccable vocal harmonies, wailing away at their respective instruments… it’s a sight to be seen and a sound to be heard. Do not ever miss King’s X if you have the chance to see them; I certainly never do.
Our resident Accept-pert Leyla Ford was also in attendance at this gig, so I’ll leave the waxing ecstatic about these wily Germans to her. But I will say that they were really, really tight and seemed to be having the time of their lives up on stage. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer to catch more of their set, as a long weekend of partying had rendered my brain useless by 10pm on a Monday night.
Alright, just one more vid, from back in the day (1994) playing “Pretend:”
-VN
