17 November 2011 (gig)
19 November 2011
About thirty seconds into ‘Lover Of High Renown’ you realise what is different between King Mob and the many, many bands of the sixties and seventies retreading their ‘Classic’ hits – King Mob are together because they want to play music together and not to try and grab a last buck before their demise.
I had a chat with lead singer Steve Parsons before the gig and he said that the band had formed because they wanted to see a band with the Beat Group ethos, no overproduction, music from the heart and music that they wanted to listen to – the album, ‘Force 9’ demonstrates that brilliantly but live it is ever more clear that these guys are a ‘Mob’, playing together for the enjoyment of it and completely without fear of what anyone else thinks.
It took the crowd a few minutes to get fully into the band but get into it they did.
Steve Parsons is a brilliant front man, wispy white hair forming a halo around an impish face and his massive eyes hidden behind aviator shades: he doesn’t move like the typical rock singer, almost fey in his movements, but his vocals are still powerful and he has years of experience behind him that give his voice more flexibility than most. Chris Spedding has always been the quiet man of rock but his guitar playing is legendary and here he was able to play with guys he obviously feels comfortable with – in Sixteen he has an axe-partner who, although young, has real talent and the style to match – there were times when they switched lead between them and Sixteen didn’t sound any less a player than the legend.
One of the advantages of a bass player like Glen Matlock is that not only does he play bass better than most but he has a real stage presence and an instantly recognizable mug, moving around the stage, sharing a mike with Parsons a few times and really integral to the music. And then there is Martin Chambers – lost behind his drum kit for most of the evening but driving the music forward, all the power in the world when he wants to but subtle when the music calls for it.
They played the majority of the ‘Force 9’ album and it has to be said that it all came over as well on stage as on the album – recorded in 4 days it plays as well as it records – with standouts all over. ‘Chapel Of Love’ was superb with Sixteen playing lap slide, ‘China Waters’ was dark and immense and ‘American Slaves’ was sung with real venom. ‘Selene Selene’ had the crowd dancing like loons (yes, me included) and they closed the set with ‘King Mob’ itself with huge tom-toms driving the voodoo rhythms. They encored with ‘Who’s Chasing Who’, dedicated to Jimmy Page who was proposed for the band before they found Sixteen.
This was one of those nights when everyone is loath to leave after the band finishes – great band, real music and played for the sheer fun of it all, what else could you wish for.
