KONGOS Deliver Lunatic To An Intimate Crowd In London
Published
KONGOS delight at the intimate setting of the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen.
Let me put something into perspective quickly; the KONGOS track “Come With Me Now” has topped the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart. In fact as it reached the top position in 10 weeks it's the quickest song of a rookie band to top the chart since Evanescence's 2003 song "Bring Me to Life".
The reason for highlighting this is last week I was lucky enough to be witness to a rather intimate show from the four Kongos brothers in Hoxton.
Although their album Lunatic has only recently been released on this side of the pond (it was released in the states and their native South Africa back in 2011) the room was packed way before the brothers were due on stage. There was a really interesting mix of people as well, definitely not only the early 20’s crowd I had expected but all manner of ages. My guess was this was due to the wide ranging appeal of Lunatic (click to read the review) and possibly the price of drinks.
The KONGOS tour schedule is relentless, no sooner had they finished the show in Hoxton they were heading straight over to Paris for the next one. They’re in the media spotlight with every website and publication keen for a piece of the band (including Subba-Cultcha), so I was half expecting a slightly fatigued performance as they went through their set list.
However this wasn’t the case. Danny, Jesse, Johnny and Dylan seem like seasoned pro’s with a passion for entertaining and performing. The room was hot, the crowd was anticipating big things in a small space and that’s exactly what they got.
Popular favourites such as “I Want To Know”, “Sex On The Radio” and “Kids These Days” were met with a rapturous reception and my personal favourite “I’m Only Joking” was delivered with punch, panache and energy which brought anyone that hadn’t been paying attention back into the room with a bang. The brothers are all multi-talented instrumentalists and watching them live highlights this.
There were a couple of slight curve-balls thrown in which I felt did dampen the overall experience a little. The guy’s management look like they've got the band on an incredibly tight schedule and there was very little pause for thought or engagement with the audience. Jesse did do his best to jump in a couple of times from behind his drumkit but I got the feeling they needed to make a very quick dash after the gig to make their plane.
The other slightly puzzling thing for me was the inclusion of a rapper for a couple of their tracks. It wasn’t that I thought he was bad, quite the opposite, I just didn’t really understand what he added to the show.
The evening finished on “Come With Me Now” and both the crowd and the band got thoroughly behind the track to finish the night on a high. All in all a great performance from a fantastic band who will be a household name in Europe (as they are in the US and South Africa) by the end of the year. My one slight gripe would be that the show seemed a little formulaic and less intimate than a venue of that size allows.
To hear Subba-Cultcha's interview with KONGOS click here.
Words by Mark Jennings
Pictures by Jennifer Moyes Photography
