REVIEW: Kingswood - The Metro, Sydney

Back at The Metro just six months after their last visit, not much has changed for Kingswood. The crowd that fills the room is a strange mix of 50+ year old AC/DC fanatics and young girls smitten with at least one band member. Either way, they seem to know most of the lyrics and transition as smoothly as the band between classic rock, soul, and country, and back again.

Tonight feels decidedly more rock n roll fixated; the band slams into their set with back-to-back classics from Microscopic Wars, after opening with the 60s inspired Like Your Mother. The band even venture back to the first EP with a smoking rendition of the subtly titled Yeah Go Die, and infuse a few extra electric guitar licks in tamer tracks like Atmosphere.

Filling out the stage with more than double the members they used to, the brass and backing vocalists lift the show, and a smoldering rendition of ICFTYDLM instantly becomes a crowd favourite. Yet it’s a humble performance of Big City that cuts through the rest, as it always does.

All the favourites are here, Ohio, Suckerpunch, She’s My Baby, Golden, all delivered with Fergus Linacre’s unmistakable vocals and embellished with Alex Laska’s undeniable guitar skills.

Kingswood are a band who seem more comfortable on stage than anywhere else; a sort of camaraderie they extend to their audience. And so with four shoeys, one Power Ranger, a birthday cake, two Sticky Fingers guest appearances, and more than one failed piggy back attempt from a very intoxicated Laska, the show concludes. Had there been no venue curfew, I’ve no doubt the band would have continued their on-stage shenanigans until the sun came up. Once off stage, I’m sure they did.

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