Kill It Kid
(c) shashamane

The Little Red Kings opened up, and despite being yet more casualties of the lurg that seems to have afflicted everyone lately they bravely soldiered on and delivered their trademark good time rock and roll in fine humour. With further support from doom-laden, guitar drone and bluesy fuzz of John J. Presley – who also visited Open supporting The Jim Jones Revue last year – there was no shortage of music on offer this evening.

Kill It Kid
(c) shashamane

Kill It Kid were the band everyone wanted to hear though and with strong local support, this being something close to a homecoming gig there was lots of singing along, Norfolk accented banter, fun, and glorious noise. Bluesy, grungey and brilliant this is a band who stand out, they have the spirit, look, the confidence, the songs, the right attitude, and of course talent in bucketloads. I stopped counting highlights after a while but they included favourites like Wild and Wasted Waters, Caroline, and new single Blood, Stop and Run (released 23 March).

Kill It Kid
(c) shashamane

On record they are powerful and can stop one in one’s tracks but it is on the stage that they are at their magnificent best. I even noticed a difference from that last Norwich gig. Tonight was even better, they are tighter still, and all entirely on the same wavelength with telepathic understanding. The power was immense but songs like another highlight, It Hurts to be Loved by You, showed how breathtakingly good they sound when playing slower too. In fact that song is one of my absolute favourites of theirs. It was a great night, the rapport between band and audience superb and almost palpable and Kill it Kid were on fire. Chris and Steph have amazing voices with tremendous musical talent and obvious chemistry whilst Marc is powerful and precise in his drumming (with a great voice too, check out the Abbey Road session version of Hurts to be Loved by You), and Dom is superb on bass, I love the way he plays and there is something of the Paul Simonon about his stage presence.

Kill It Kid
(c) shashamane

Kill It Kid
(c) shashamane

Kill It Kid
(c) shashamane

Kill It Kid
(c) shashamane

I don’t often come to the Waterfront these days but on this occasion the venue suited the music well in the “studio” room. If only the security chaps here could lighten up a bit – so different from the very friendly doorpeople at other venues – but the guy on the desk made up for this by being totally awesome. Many thanks to him, and many thanks to Kill it Kid who were triumphant and really friendly chatting to everyone afterwards.

words and photos, richard shashamane 2015

@RShashamane

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