Photo: Steve McQueen
A Thursday night in Shoreditch is usually a gamble or a mixed bag at best - it’s somewhat reassuring spectacle, however, to see an over flow of crowds spilling out from Cargo onto a dimly lit Rivington Street.
The Magnetism of rising stars To Kill A King have, no doubt, set the bar for bands this early into their career with a sold out show gained from an organic dedicated following and a clever utilisation on line video with Ralphs balcony sessions, it makes you wonder how long it will be before they are cultivated and digested by a corporate major.
Tonight's support fit nicely with Geordie boys Shields taking the stage with their beautifully crafted guitar riffs and energetic crowd pleasing alt pop. Including songs in the set like ‘All I know’ and ‘A Simple Answer’ and the crowd wowing cover of SBTRKT’s ‘Pharaohs’ shakes up the audience with an array of upbeat clapping and singing along. Sheilds deliver a wholesome set, demonstrating what a diverse and perfectly crafted musical outfit they can be, Its easy to see why the likes of Zane Lowe have now got behind them, which no doubt add fuel to their accent.
Next up, To Kill a King - the reason why the majority of the crowd have braved a bitterly cold October evening to a venue that would otherwise be struggling to gain half capacity.
The room is full, if not a little cramped, Ralph Pelleymounter centres the stage backed up with the rest of the band who begin to add the haunting yet uplifting harmonies of ‘Funereal’ with Pelleymounters immediate and soothing melodies have the crowd mesmerized even first song in. The band break into ‘Wolves’ which welds smoldering vocals with the epic lyrics ‘Wolves will keep you warm’, with melodies sounding like it could have been easily written for an Echo And The Bunnymen ‘Oceon Rain’ era.
The band seem to have put have focus on their latest ‘Word Of Mouth’ EP which is now due for a limited physical release, but they do include a few oldies like ‘Bloody shirt’ which instigates a few lovingly screams of appreciation. They also invite Fabienne Debarre of We were Evergreen and Dan Smith from Bastille to collaborate them on a goose bump inducing rendition of ‘Choices’. The bands set comes to a close with ‘Fictional state’ which is a perfect song to close the set but do however give in the crowds demand for more with a double encore with ‘Standing In Front Of The Mirror’ and ‘Family’. Watching bands grow these days is becoming a rarity, which is why watching To Kill A King Blossom is a such a beautiful thing.
