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Saturday night at the Cedar Culture Center – it was all right to ‘cry wolf’ – as long as it was coming from the falsetto voice of Black Wolf and the rest of the Kings Go Forth band.
They brought down the house with their funkadelic, soulful sound and fluid energy. This ten-piece band put in work, and there wasn’t a dry forehead in the joint from start to finish.
Fans in the area had been anticipating their arrival for months; much thanks to the support they’ve received 89.9 FM, the Current.
They’ve actually gained quite a following in Minneapolis/St. Paul. It was evident as you entered the packed and stuffy main room and saw the nearly 600 guests packed wall-to-wall.
Black Wolf wasted no time as he blazed the stage barefoot, garbed in a hip, dashiki-like wardrobe with fringe hanging from patches around his knees. He was animated and energetic, piercing the crowd with his unforgettable, starry-eyed gaze, dimpled smile, and crowd-working gestures.
Like hot grease in a pan, this soul band was ready to catch fire. Passion and enthusiasm was pouring out through the music. Although you could have caught some heat exhaustion in that place, it certainly didn’t stop everyone from cutting lose and getting their dance on.
It’s rare to see a great soul band composed of as many musicians, all of which are extremely talented. The vocals and harmonies were on point, the horn section was blaring, keyboards were being played with hands and knee, the percussion was forging the rhythm, and the guitar, base, and drums were filling every note perfectly in between.
So what is it about their sound that people are going crazy for?
I caught Andy Noble, founding member, bassist, and co-songwriter, after the show and he was kind enough to do a short interview. He informed me that he’s no stranger to our music scene. He’s actually been playing here with various bands for years.
He also clarified how Kings Go Forth set themselves apart from neo-soul reincarnations of classic soul music, describing that neo-soul artists want to make “fancy music.” He explained that they don’t want to “alienate” their fans.
“We make shitty sounding music in a basement,” said Noble. “We shoot ourselves in the foot because our stuff is so shitty.”
Oh, and better yet – Dave Wake, keyboardist, insisted that I correct the statement. “It’s not shitty – it’s poopie,” he said.
I must say – they both have a great sense of humor and they had me cracking up. I guess shitty sounding music must be in high demand, and I suppose I better go clean my ears, because I thought they were fantastic.
David Byrne, of Talking Heads, must not think they’re so bad either. The group is signed to his label, Luaka Bop, which is charged with other brilliant artists from around the world, such as Susan Baca and Zap Mama.
Kings Go Forth is a collective of professional musicians – that happen to also be friends – who clearly got a nice break putting this awesome, soulful band together. Check them out live if they’re in your town. The album is super as well, I recommend picking up a copy.♥ Kings Go Forth |
08/03/2010 08:14:47 ♥ nicole (
) ♥ kingsgoforth.com ♥ myspace.com
