Live | King King – Bosuil – Weert [NL]

20 April 2024

Saturday, April 20, it was again time to drive to the Bosuil in Weert. After all, the Scottish blues rock formation KING KING is playing there. That normally guarantees an evening of great live music.

Slowly but steadily the Bosuil fills up with visitors. Who are first “treated” to an orchestra [Thompson Springs] that should act as a support act, or warm-up act. I don’t often have it, but these gentlemen were so bad that I will spare you my comments on this. Clearly I wasn’t the only one who thought so. The looks of amazement around me spoke volumes. An experience to forget very fast!!!

KING KING

So quickly on to the band it’s all about on this rainy Saturday night. Fortunately, as soon as these guys take the stage, the atmosphere changes for the better. The sound is super, the lighting is super [as it usually is in the Bosuil] and we can get ready for an extremely enjoyable party that Alan Nimmo and his KING KING allies have come to celebrate.

From the first notes of opening track ,,Dance Together’’ from their most recent album ‘Maverick’ to the final chord of ,,Let love In’’, it is a sequence of highly produced live music. To me KING KING are one of the best live acts in the blues rock genre today. The whole band plays top notch, the vocals are of another level, Andrew Scott‘s drums are super tight and Jonny Dyke‘s keys are exceptionally good. The vocal choruses are heavenly and when Alan starts soloing it’s like whipped cream on the cake.

This gentleman is simply a pedigree performer and top-notch entertainer. Nimmo has a smile on his face the entire performance that is impossible to brush off, and rightfully so. KING KING as a collective is an insanely good live band and with Nimmo they also have a, as always dressed in Scottish kilt, insane frontman, lead singer and lead guitarist.

During the extra long version of ,,Stranger’’, Alan plays a brutal solo. During this solo, the hall sound gets softer and softer, the band no longer plays, except for drummer Andrew’s high-hat and Alan’s solo guitar, which turns the volume down further and further to a level that nothing is amplified in the hall. At that point, the room is dead silent. You can just hear Nimmo playing his unamplified electric Stratocaster guitar and that alone can be called a true miracle in halls infested by ever-chattering people.  Applause for the audience and also the band who pulled that off.

The only downside I can think of for this performance is that it was actually too short. Although they played for almost 2 hours, which is above average, you just can’t get enough of this band.

Nimmo frequently emphasizes that he is always extremely happy to see people coming to their live performances, because that is what he lives for. A life without live music is unthinkable for him. Well, let him and the band continue to make a lot of music together and especially perform a lot. Because this band is just the cream of the crop.

SETLIST

Dance Together
Long Time Running
Heed The Warning
By Your Side
Lose Control
A Long History Of Love
Waking Up
Whatever It Takes To Survive
You Stopped The Rain
Rush Hour
I Will Not Fall
Stranger

Encore:
Let Love In

All photos by Raymond Helebrand