Kingswood
Cambridge Hotel
Wednesday 29 March 2017
PHOTOS: Jesse Rowbottom
It’d been quite some time between drinks at the Cambridge for the lads from Kingswood. Last time the Melburnians played to a Cambo crowd, back in September 2014, the then four-piece had only just released their debut record, Microscopic Wars. Now a trio, and with another brand new album in the bag, Fergus, Alex and Justin made a triumphant return to the Cambridge stage on Wednesday night to show Newcastle fans what they’d been missing.
The sweaty punters were enjoying the pre-match anthems being piped in on the sound system, coming together in mass singsong for Aerosmith’s ‘Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’, Farnsy’s ‘You’re the Voice’ and, of course, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, when, just as we were about to reach that sweet head-banging moment, the stage suddenly lit up and a troupe of eight appeared in front of the eager crowd. Unlike the last time they were in town, this Kingswood iteration had female backing vocalists and a horns section. Remembering the guitar-fuelled mayhem of their last visit here, it looked like we were might be for a different sort of night.
Kicking off with the opening track off After Hours, Close to Dawn, ‘Looking for Love’, with it’s upbeat piano, pretty harmonies and snappy rhythm, Kingswood’s polished new sound was fully on display. You could be forgiven for thinking we were still listening to Queen. But hey, who’d be complaining? Next up the horns section were given their moment, with trumpet and sax giving extra gusto to the boppy and bluesy, ‘Like Your Mother’. All this before ‘She’s My Baby’ made the crowd lose their shit.
There was a pretty good mix between old and new material throughout the night. ‘Library Books’, ‘Golden’, ‘Belle’, ‘Big City’, ‘Rebel Babe’, ’Alabama White’ and ‘Atmosphere’ from After Hours, Close to Dawn all getting a run. But it was the old stuff that fans had been waiting so long to hear again and it was these tracks that produced the real gemstone moments of the night. ‘So Long’, much slinkier live than recorded, was played out into a sprawling jam that gave Alex the opportunity to let loose on guitar and Justin the chance to show off some seriously seductive beats.
By the tail end of the show, things were getting crazy. The opening riff to ‘Ohio’ sent the crowd into a spin and we all took over lead vocals for the first verse while Fergus just stood on the edge of the stage giving ‘praise hands’. A lass also found her way up onto the stage at this point and after looking to axe herself completely on her first attempt jumping off the stage, was invited back on for a second shot. This time, Fergus chucked her off and the crowd took her for a ride. The boys extended this one out too, giving Ferg time for some more fun swinging from the lighting rig and getting sweaty(er) down with the punters.
When the guys returned to the stage for an encore, the snake pit opened up again and seemed to only intensify. Kingswood definitely weren’t done with us yet. ‘Medusa’ near lifted the roof off the place and ‘Mirco Wars’ was equally as nuts. The night finished up, fittingly enough, with the lads self-described comeback track ‘Creepin’.
Kingswood may have moved on from the ‘harden up pub rock’ of their early days. Listen to their new material and you’ll easily find blues, country and pop influences. But one thing remains the same, whatever sounds Kingwood are smashing out, there doing it with the same raw energy, style and flair that’s made them one of the country’s most satisfying live acts.
