Kaki King

El Rey - May 22, 2010

Live Review by Joe Cortez

I've always thought of Kaki King as the thinking person's guitar god. On record, she strikes as contemplative and moody with just enough scorn to really make those cuts deep. She's in that great tradition of confessional singer-songwriters (when she does sing) but I can just as easily see posters of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin hanging on her bedroom wall as a teenager. So as you might expect I was more than a little surprised to find King in high spirits during her show at the El Rey theater in Los Angeles this past Saturday night, making wry jokes and witty asides all throughout her set while dazzling with her impressive skills and tight two-piece backing band. Some jokes her audience got, others not so much, but that's okay. Sometimes the funniest jokes are the ones only the joketeller gets.

If there was ever an audience tailor-made for a Kaki King concert, it would be an L.A. crowd. During the quieter acoustic moments that featured King alone on her guitar, the audience was attentive. More than attentive, they seemed captivated, hanging on every pluck and strum from the humble virtuoso. And when King decided to let loose and dive into the crowd, dancing among her rabid fans for a finale that culminated in a kind of Sonic Youth jam session, even the wallflowers in the back rushed to see what was going on up front.

King's set was a generous mix of both old and new with songs from her latest, "Junior," being the focal point. Since I'm not all together entirely familiar with her complete body of work it was a real eye opener to hear early compositions, including one which she introduced as having written around the age of 19 for an open mic competition. She mentioned that she subsequently lost but clearly held no ill will toward management, telling the crowd, "I think they didn't want me because I was too good."

Providing support, in the band's first L.A. date in about a year, was Australian duo An Horse. King joined An Horse for a surprise bit of improvised business on the lap steel during "Little Lungs." It was a highlight of the set but didn't distract from the rest of the band's patented brand of hook-filled, emo-approved rock.

Thinking back, what struck me most was King's command of the stage and her ability to build moments and not just give her fans what she thinks they want. Late in her set, King dropped in a moment of complete silence during a mash up of two songs, one old and one new and to my amazement not one person made a sound. Not even a premature clap escaped. We were all that wrapped up in what she was doing and I think I can honestly say I've never experienced a moment like that at a concert before. I knew she was good but I didn't think she was that good. How I love to be proven wrong sometimes.