"We're Kings X, if you haven't heard, and we're here to kick your ass." Lead singer and bassist Doug Pinnock offered this view of their role as opening act for Porcupine Tree last night. Indeed, they did. A quarter century ago, a friend of mine told me about this awesome band from Texas, that I needed to check them out. I hate to admit that while I knew I should like them, and I wanted to like them, it just isn't the kind of thing I can really dig. Rooted in punk and a late-70's hard rock aesthetic (I know that sounds like an odd combination, but after you check them out, I think you'll see it's accurate), the power trio is the most underappreciated rock band out there. They should be as huge as U2, the Rolling Stones, and R.E.M. Pegged as a "Christian band" because, lyrically, the band flirted with certain spiritual themes, they were consigned to a ghetto. Musicians and hard core fans, however, know there is more to them than this, and love them because they are a band with no frills, just chops accompanied by Pinnock's amazing voice (at one point he hit notes Mariah Carey couldn't have reached!). They ended the show with this old but awesome ode to the only thing that mattered to the folks crammed in to the Vic Theater, "Over My Head":
I felt bad, however, because the only glaring technical issue was with Pinnock's microphone. They had been sound-checking it right up to the moment the band came out, and it still wasn't working right through the first song; by about half-way through the second number whatever bug was there was squashed, and the show was so tight and blistering you could forgive the roadies for not getting it all cleared up.
