It seems that in today’s music society all you need to be a band is a few pairs of outrageously skinny jeans, crappy lyrics and the ability to say “ohhhh la” at the end of every line. Well Black Market Karma (B.M.K) stand for everything that is against this worn out and over-rated stereotype of bands in the twenty first century and aim to bring back what is right in music.
Very young, very energetic and very talented, this four piece from South London bring back the good old days of 60s rock in to today’s music world, a sentiment, that many would agree is much over due.
Hot on the heels of the work from bands such as The Velvet Underground, B.MK. aim to rekindle the music that influenced so many bands and people’s life styles in a time that determined so much.
The band exist on a vibe that seems to ooze out to the audience who are left wanting more of the creative and radiant sound that is produced by the young four piece. What is most impressive about this band is how all four members seem to compliment each other and no one member seems outshine another. This is one bands hype that should definitely be believed; look out for the long awaited demo tape and album being released by the band in the up coming months which is self titled “Black Market Karma”.
Sam Francis
Kings of Leon – Gig review - Monday 15/ June/ 2009
AS the heavens opened over London city yesterday evening around 20,000 soaked through Kings of Leon (KoL) fans made the trip to see the Tennessee four piece play their latest show in their sold out tour at the o2.
The torrential downpour didn’t leave the fans in dampened spirits as the Kings support act Glasvegas took to the stage. The Scottish rock ‘n’ roll group would of got mixed feelings to a more subdue appreciation as they left the stage. It was not exactly a supporting performance for the memory bank and not putting KoL under any threat of being out played.
After about a 30 minute interlude, the lights once again were dropped and KoL took to the stage. My first reaction as I entered the more than impressive o2 arena; was horror to the price of a pint, my second reaction was, disappointingly, one of surprise, I was surprised by the over bearing number of short-back-and-sides hair styles, Fred Perry polo shirts and the brightest of bright plimsoll’s regardless of the rain. Whatever happened to the dirty looking, scrawny, big haired, skinny jean wear Kings fan that we have all come to know and love over the years, don’t get me wrong, every now and again you would get the odd glimpse of a hardcore KoL fan still getting involved and following the band but they were seriously getting outnumbered by the ‘born again, “rock”, lovers’ who wouldn’t know a mosh pit from an armpit. I suppose this is what you should come to expect from a band that you can now see on music channels like “Smash Hits”... very rock ‘n’ roll.
However, this was not the only sign that the KoL I was watching was a different Kings from that of 2 years back. As I slowly made the most out of a extortionately priced pint, I found it hard to really get in to what I was hearing; the performance was inundated with tracks from their latest 2 albums “Because of the Times” and “Only by the Night”. Which in their own right, have some outstanding numbers on, but all I could pick up on was the constant criticism of these latest two albums being too samey echoing around my head. It took the genius of the Molly’s Chamber from the debut album “Youth and Young Manhood” until my bitter disappointment was disembarked by my love for the Tennessee quartet which was then followed by “Red Morning Light” leaving any thoughts of discontent long gone.
By which time, my pockets were empty from the two beers I was able to get my hands on, and without having the correct details with me to get out a loan with the o2 it looked like my drinking days were done for the night, so me and my companion started our serge forward through the crowds. With the barrier in sight we decided to set up camp dead centre about three bodies away from the barrier. It was at which point where the Kings broke in to “Four Kicks” from the “Aha Shake Heartbreak” album, and it was also at this point were my criticism of the crowd came back to haunt me as the reaction to “Four Kicks” was breath taking, literally and metaphorically, the serge forward by the other 19,998 thousand allowed me to slam very elegantly in to my companion, who was not best pleased as after a scan showed he had recently torn shoulder ligaments, that made the car journey home fun. In and amongst the push forward and the jumping about like a complete loon, I then, and only then, realised the class and greatness that I was bearing witness to, regardless of any prior feelings, The Kings of Leon truly are one of the best live acts that you can see, every lyric, every beat, every guitar solo was, frankly, stunning. It has been a very long time since I went to a gig to see a band perform and have me think to myself ‘this is as if I am listening to a cd’ everything was that spot on.
Rhythm guitarist and front man Caleb Followill has faced much criticism in past years for not interacting with the audience, just coming on stage, performing, then leaving, not that I would have a problem with this if it were true, but it wasn’t , after nearly every song would Caleb thank the English crowd for being there to support them from the start etc. He even informed us of his cousin's, Matthew Followill, absence from the bands next couple of performances as he is having a baby soon and he is going back home, now that’s what I call performer – audience interaction.
One song that I was, this time pleasantly, surprised to see in the line up was the opening track on the “Because of the Times” album, “Knocked up” which seemed to go humorously fitting with his cousins recent reasoning for absences. “Knocked up” is a beautifully put together, well rounded track which has enables all aspects of the group’s talent to shine from the soft vocals, to the spectacular guitar rhythms that continuously ooze out of the Gibson Epiphone’s of the two guiataring Followill cousins. Brothers to front man Caleb, drummer Nathan and basest Jared make up the family quartet Nathan who continues to impress, with his quick hands and nonchalant beats and Jared with not only his classic bass performance but also the bands pianist which comes in to affect more than you might think and every time it takes the crowd by awe. And when all these musical aspects come together, with the incredible stage affects that you come to expect from a venue like the o2, it creates a truly beautiful music and a fantastic atmosphere as best seen when the Kings played their unbelievably popular hit “Use Somebody” from the fourth album. And just when my company’s shoulder seemed to find itself on the long road to recovery, KoL decided that then would be a good time to perform the song that realistically would have brought most of indie pop loving fans to the o2 that wet Monday night, “Sex on Fire” which was executed perfectly sent the crowd in to a frenzy of hugs, screams and sore throats.
In hindsight, seeing the Kings of Leon on that Monday, which will be remembered by most for the sheer amounts of rain, but for those 20,000, wet, sweaty Kings fans, they will remember an epic performance played by one of the most talented and one of the best live acts around. And i mean that sincerly, granted there is much to be said about the fourth album, and I have been persistent with it but I still cannot get on with it, to me it is far to samey with only three genres of songs and the rest just follow suit, not wanting to try anything to dangerous like they did with the three prior albums and gave them the fan backing that they have now. And yes, I was slightly disappointed with the song list, in my opinion they was know where near enough material from the first two albums with tracks such as “King of the Rodeo”, “Joe’s Head”, “Soft”, “Happy Alone” the list goes on, songs that really made KoL so big, however, there is no disputing the genius and the class of the performance and undoubtedly the kings of Leon, regardless of their new, slightly chavy following, are one of the best live bands that you can see. And I believe that in 5 years or so, when they go back to playing the songs that made them they can easily become bigger than bands like “Oasis” or “The Strokes”.
Sam Francis
Still don't know about the Kings of Leon? Get with it, take a look at there home page to find out more kingsofleon.com
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