Just got back from seeing King's X at the Nick in BHam. Ah, it was a good show. Here's the setlist:
Train
Believe
Little Bit of Soul (man, this song has some
crazy chords by Ty)
Dawgman
Black Like Sunday
Finished
Screamer
Johnny
<acoustic> The Difference
<acoustic> What I'm Gonna Do
<acoustic> Mr. Evil
<acoustic> Mississippi Moon
<acoustic> Everybody Knows a Little Bit of Something
<acoustic> A Box
Talk to You
The Big Picture
Sometime
Visions
We Were Born to be Loved
encore:
<acoustic> Over My Head
<acoustic> Summerland
Album count:
1 - Out of the Silent Planet
4 - Gretchen Goes to Nebraska
2 - Faith Hope Love
1 - King's X 4
1 - Dogman
5 - Ear Candy
2 - Tape Head
0 - Please Come Home... Mr. Bulbous
1 - Manic Moonlight
4 - Black Like Sunday
All in all a good show. The highlight for me by far was "Talk to You." Good heavens, this kicked live. Other highlights were "Screamer" and "Johnny" and of course "We Were Born to be Loved." The lowlight was this one drunk chick right beside me who screamed "Summerland" between every song. She eventually went outside and came running back in when they played it. The other lowlight for me was that for the second tour in a row, no Bulbous, one of my three fav KX albums. In fact, the setlist is puzzling to me. Ear Candy is universally regarded as the weakest KX album, and they did five songs from it? Well, Doug says it's his fav, so there you go. I was a little disappointed in the setlist because 12 of the 21 songs they played last time. I was hoping for more variety. That being said, they rocked it out perfectly. Holy smoke, it was worth my 12 US Dollars just to watch Ty's perfect technique on "Johnny." I probably am sounding a little pessimistic, but I wish the song selection had been better. For example, if you're going to do only one song off Manic Moonlight, why do a song you played last tour? Last tour it was "Believe" and "Static," so I'd have played "Vegetable" or "Skeptical Winds." Same with "Out of the Silent Planet." Only one selection last tour and only one this tour, and both times, it's "Visions." I'd pay and extra $5 for them to play "Wonder." This is not a complaint, but I'm surprised at the picks from Tape Head. I'm glad that they gave "Groove Machine" a rest this tour (great song though), but doing "Little Bit of Soul" and "Mr. Evil" is surprising. I would have guessed "Fade," "Ono," and "Hate You." The acoustic (not really acoustic, but semi-) was cool. "A Box" was killer, one of my favs, but I wished they done it full electric. Once again, "Talk to You," "We Were Born," "Screamer," and "Johnny" were alone worth $12. I just hope next tour to hear some deeper cuts. I'd love to hear "Ono," "Smudge," "When You're Scared," "Pillow," "Julia," "I'll Never Be the Same," and "Dreams."
Another thing: Doug Pinnock is a much better bass player than most people realize. He uses distortion and fuzz and sometimes it obscures what he's playing, but watching his fingers, man, that guy is all over the place. He's as busy a player at times as Squire or Levin or Bootsy! The jam in the middle of "Finished" is basically Ty and Doug both soloing at the same time. Goodness. Jerry is still a killer drummer, and Ty is of course Ty. Whether solo, King's X, The Jelly Jam, or Platypus, Ty is one of the unsung guitarists in prog-metal.
I'll say this: If you've never seen King's X, do it.