Kings Go Forth Bring Soul To The ‘Shoe
July 14th, 2010
With a 56 year-old soul veteran Black Wolf as their lead singer, Kings Go Forth definitely isn’t a Jonas Brothers-esque group. But last Friday at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, they demanded the audience’s attention like it. Black Wolf, clad in a patterned vibrant two piece jumpsuit with a deep, deep, deep V neck fell to his knees like in spiritual meditation and then lurched forward to be among the crowd as they got low.
Kings Go Forth play music to be listened with Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings and James Brown. Their throwback funk soul sound features layers of instruments to build a wall of sound that controls the audience like dancing puppets. Their song “One Day” is fit for a 1970’s car chase featuring Starsky and Hutch or a 2010 car chase featuring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl… maybe. The 10 member funk collective from Milwaukee have been slowly joining the soul revival after releasing a variety of singles since 2007. Their first album, The Outsiders Are Back was released by Luaka Bop on April 20 and the buzz has been enough to bring a solid crowd out on a Toronto Friday night.
The band took the stage after locals East End Lovelies andSteamboat warmed up the crowd who may or may not have understood what they were getting themselves into. Black Wolf and Andy Noble fronted the huge band and sling shot from song to song without losing the fast funk momentum. Their Technicolour sound acted as an instant mood enhancer that gave them superhuman energy.
The audience however wasn’t quite as impressively fluid as the band. A few of the crowd members danced pretty hilariously but that only proved that the music stripped them of their inhibitions. While some shows at the Horseshoe have fostered a shoe gazing sway in the audience, at this show anyone obviously inhibited were seen as the outcasts.
Tags: East End Lovelies, Kings Go Forth, Steamboat
Posted on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 12:00 pm by Jessica and is filed under Concerts, Reviews, The New Music.
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