King Charles offers rich pageantry and showmanship to match his stellar musicianship, Getintothis’ Emma Walsh bows down to new rock royalty.
With a title like King Charles, and the suitable procession of adulation that has followed the new pop prince around the musical grapevine, anticipation in Liverpool was high.
With the band making full use of both levels of the stage, the buzz of excitement rippling through the crowd and the sense of grandeur afforded by The Kazimier, it was as though King Charles was born to play this venue.
Dressed in all the trappings of new age royalty, with a topknot of wild hair, a tasselled scarf and moccasin-like loafers, KC was welcomed to the stage by a roar of adoration. Every song received the same celebration with sing-alongs from the outset, flourishes of psychedelic guitars and BIG choral lines that had the crowd bouncing.
King Charles thrills the crowd at the Kazimier
The main man pranced around the stage, bounced up and down the stairs, throwing all his poses and charms to his adoring fans. While his leaps from the top stage might have had the health and safety guy’s heart in his mouth, the theatrics delighted his worthy subjects, and when he headbanged his topknot out and thrashed his curls around, Liverpool hasn’t seen swooning like that since Beatlemania. Perhaps…
Showboating a songbook of crowd pleasers such as Mississippi Isobel, Love Blood and the beautiful Love Lust, King Charles‘ prolific songwriting has made him a poet for the masses, decorated with all the embellishments of flamboyance and garishness, or as the kids say these days, he’s got serious swag.
King Charles mixing flamboyance and musicianship in Liverpool
In an inevitable encore, the gracious King taught us how to utilise an iphone 5 as a guitar slide and treated the audience to a revamped modern day version of Billy Joel‘s We Didn’t Start the Fire, including the lines ‘Gaga on the radio‘ and ‘We all know that Cruise is gay‘.
Sadly, it seemed, King Charles hadn’t had time to edit in the line ‘Thatcher’s Dead‘ but we can assume he will get around to it before the tour ends.
Earlier, Bird opened proceedings with their characteristic atmospheric, gothic sound, creating a distinct sense of occasion. With waves of haunting vocal swells and beautiful guitars, Bird had the audience bewitched.
Bird’s Adele Emmas live at the Kazimier
Touring with King Charles, Storybooks entertained court with a cymbal heavy sound and moody vocals that failed to raise much excitement despite a few moments of intrigue, in particular, the lead singer’s likeness to Harry Potter.
The unwavering monotony of the vocals and understated guitars gave the affair a sedated feel which failed to grab the full attention of the crowd.
But just when you thought about giving up on them, they pulled out a tune with all the guitars and snare and suspense that had been lacking. Not the most riveting of storybooks, but perhaps worth keeping an eye on.
Pictures by Getintothis’ Gareth Jones
