I first saw Kingsley Flood perform a number of years ago (perhaps five) at the Lowell Summer Music Series and thoroughly enjoyed their opening set. Their career has been on a steady rise since then, and I was excited to attend this EP release show.
This year, the band released a series of EPs, the most recent of which is The Good Fight. They are based in Boston, so what better place to hold an event but The Sinclair.
From the moment they took the stage, the crowd was rapt. Naseem Khuri is the frontman, on lead vocals and playing rhythm guitar. I do not know where he gets his energy, but I want some of it! He jumps around the stage, sometimes landing on the drums riser, sometimes landing on his back.
Rounding out the band are Eva Walsh on fiddle and vocals; Chris Barrett on trumpet, keys, percussion and vocals; George Hall on lead guitar and vocals; Nick Balkin on bass and vocals; and Travis Richter on drums, percussion and vocals.
Kingsley Flood is not easy to categorize. Are they folk? Punk? Folk-punk? Punk-folk? Does it really matter as long as they’re good? I don’t think it does. Punk energy pairs well with acoustic instruments, to my ears.
It is clear they have a tremendous amount of fun when they perform, and that always translates into an excellent show. As I looked around the venue, I saw only smiling faces and swaying bodies. They also have tremendous talent. Walsh has been playing fiddle on the local music scene for a number of years and I have seen her play with other bands a few times. Kingsley Flood seems to suit her perfectly.
I look forward to seeing much more of this band, although they will probably start playing larger and larger venues. I hope they will always have a soft spot for smaller rooms like the Sinclair.
Two bands did a great job of opening the show. The first was Grey Season, which features Jon Mills on lead vocals, acoustic guitar, and Irish bouzouki; Matt Knelman on lead and acoustic guitars and vocals; Chris ‘Gooch’ Bloniarz on banjo, mandolin, keyboards, dobro and vocals; Ian Jones on bass and vocals; and Ben Burns on drums, percussion and vocals. They performed a half-hour set that impressed me yet again with how good these young musicians are. Playing original folk-rock, they have been touring this year in support of their debut album, Time Will Tell You Well.
After their set, Bombadil took the stage. They sounded similar to They Might Be Giants, and the crowd enjoyed their set as well. Dressed like twins, James Phillips and Daniel Michalak switch instruments throughout the set, as do the other two members of the band.
This was the kind of show I did not want to end. Even though it was fairly late when it did (especially considering it was a Friday night), I could have listened to another hour of Kingsley Flood. I hope they return soon with a new full-length album.
This review and more photos was originally published on Suze Reviews the Blues.
