King X Live Report

We generally like to make a fashionably late entrance at the Webster, and catch only the main event band we wanted to see. But last night we went early (for the lot parking) and thought we'd give a load of local bands a chance to pleasantly surprise. No such luck. Let us just say they were unremarkable, and leave them otherwise unremarked upon.

Kings X is the band that we, and a small but dedicated audience, were there to see. At first we felt a little deflated by the amount of empty space in the room, but once we got into the music and saw how very into the band the audience that did attend was, we didn't give it another thought. We were particularly impressed when the band let the crowd take the vocals entirely for "Goldilox" (here's a vid from another show, I guess it's their standard). Isn't that just sweet? Doug Pinnick gave a shout-out to marijuana legalization during "Dogman," and a midsong "church of rock n roll" sermon on following your dreams during "Over My Head," which also featured better-than-average audience participation. Way to go Kings X music nerd fans! Perhaps most importantly, we renewed our crush on Pinnick, and spiced up our musical experience with impure thoughts about his stunning (skinny) physique, inhumanly long arms and giant hands. We were able to shake the latter after the show when the band migrated to the merch table to meet and greet and pose and sign and all that. Isn't that so nice? We think so.

Some years back we did some professional music journalism with Kings X. We found there to be some confusion regarding the band's stance on religion - apparently they started out as some kind of Christian rock act. Guitarist Ty Tabor told us something at the time along the lines of 'the label never applied, we all believe different stuff.' During the "Over My Head" interlude, Pinnick said "we don't subscribe to any religion, we don't believe in heaven and hell..." Still, the band like to engage in religious wordplay, as in a newer track they performed, "Pray." The lyrics imply a heavy dose of irony and skepticism, so maybe they just like to keep us guessing. We are reminded of Porcupine Tree's "Halo," which also features list-style lyrical speculation about god set to bass-heavy progressive rock. Ambitious area fans can try and catch these two acts together on a few upcoming dates, including:

Thu 9/24/2009 NY, NY @ Terminal 5

Sat 9/26/2009 Philly @ Electric Factory

Sun 9/27/2009 Boston, MA @ House Of Blues