Outside, it’s cold and drizzly. Inside, it’s bloody boiling.
Maybe Kill It Kid have brought the heat of LA – where they cut latest album _You Owe Nothing _– or maybe blues-rock brother duo Gallery Circus have cranked up the temperature with their biting support set. And our headlining four-piece are roasting, perspiring within minutes of kicking off at this Northern Quarter haunt.
Drummer Marc Jones told us earlier: “If you become a Kill It Kid fan it’s probably because you’ve seen us live.” It takes little time to see what he means. On record, their Mississippi Fred McDowell blues-infused rock is a commanding, original thing. Live, in a very artistic, non-sleazy way, it oozes sexual magnetism – specifically, between coupled-up co-vocalists Stephanie Ward and Chris Turpin, breathily sighing into microphones for High Class – all turbocharged by the cool, pounding rhythm section of Jones and bassist Dom Kozubik.
“Any fans of Woody Guthrie in here?” Turpin asks. The football-bellowing crowd give a surprisingly enthused ‘Yeah!’ in response. A fair, skinny 26-year-old in a cowboy shirt he may be, but he’s a quietly louche, witty frontman – eschewing select moments of good-natured chat for furious passion in numbers like Tired Of The Way You Want To Live, the heaviest take on gospel you’ll ever hear.
For God’s sake catch them on their next tour. The reception greeting the likes of singalong ballad Caroline suggests their stages could soon start to get much bigger.
