Justin King Review

Last Friday night we saw Justin King and his band play at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco (about a 15 minute walk from my flat), and it was everything that I imagined it to be and then some. King opened for another band (who was crap) that night. He started off with an improvised signature version of "Taps" before he and his band kicked in with "Beauty Bar."

I brought a few friends, who had never seen or heard of him before, and all of them stood with their mouths open. However, what makes him an outstanding musician is his ability to use his incredible technique to make his band better. It also helps that he has the voice of an angel too. As I looked around the room, most people, including those that came with me, were tapping their feet and bobbing their heads. This was a great sign as I don't think most of the people there even knew who he was.

About three songs in, he ripped into the song "Postcard." I was interested to see how he would put this off, since in the studio version he is doing a tastefully arpeggiated tapping sequence during the chorus while singing a melody in harmony with the other guitar player. I almost threw my bottle of Sierra Nevada at him as he not only pulled it off, but did so with a vocal harmony so tight it shook the bottles of booze behind the bar.

Additionally, Justin and his band demonstrated mastery of the subtleties that make a good band a great band. They had complete control over everything that they were playing. For example, several times they would play "dileundo," meaning "growing softer, dying away" only to transition by building into a "tonante," or thunderous, crescendo within a few bars without losing a step.

This is a rare skill as virtuoso guitar players often expend so much energy playing unbelievable guitar, yet can be very lazy in connecting with and making their bands shine. In Justin's case, he has an unbelievably talented band behind him and he makes them even better by complimenting them through rhythm, harmony and, when the time is right, sick guitar playing.

They played a bunch of new songs, which Justin told me after the show, would be on his forthcoming album in a month of two. I'm eagerly anticipating this and hope that these guys can really gain a solid following. They are way too good to be opening for stinky bands, but it may be indictative of the state of music today that they haven't garnered that much attention.

Advice to Justin and Co: Perseverance guys, perseverance. You'll eventually climb to the top of this pile if you can keep playing and get your album out there.

Everyone else: here's a link to a free download, authorized by Justin, of "Something About Angels."

UPDATE: Aha! A convert!