Kings' Last Night

birds of avalon

black taj

birds of avalon

dynamite brothers

So, overall, a pretty crazy night at Kings. Lots of drinking from everybody, and it showed at the end of the night. Some roustabouts in the men's room started kicking the wall between their room and the dance floor out. No sooner than I wipe the drywall dust off my pants than some drunk girl starts throwing her top at the Birds Of Avalon. Lead singer, Craig Tilley kept giving her shirt back, which she'd put back on. Only to throw back off moments later. Wouldn't be the end of Kings without some drunken action someone was gonna regret later.

Oh yeah, a bunch of bands played that night, too.

I walked in at the end of Dynamite Brothers' set. I've been a fan of theirs since a Halloween show where they dressed as Billy Gibbons and Phil Collins, probably five years ago or more. Since then they've become the tightest band on the scene, yet they've been relegated to the early slot every time I've seen them. They were especially on fire this night, ending the set with a bruising, spot on version of "Young Man's Blues".

They were followed by The Greatest Hits, who introduced themselves as "the Duke football program of Raleigh bands". This is a pretty fair assessment. Their greatest moment, in probably ever, happened when they were joined by Scott from Goner and performed a fantastic cover of "This Heart's On Fire" by Wolf Parade.

The Loners played next. They only have one song, with different variations. They played these variations, and I drank beer and talked shit about EMI raising the price of their digital downloads to $1.35.

Black Taj were up next and they proceeded do as they always do, and crush heads. Left and right. I definitely don't get to see this band enough, and I'm guessing I'll get to see them less now that Kings is closed. I'd write more, but I can't find the words. They were just really good, like all the good things about Guided By Voices stretched out over the low end of a Polvo album.

Birds of Avalon ended the night. Confetti, streamers, breasts, rockin'... BOA took up where Cherry Valence left off. Minus those drummers, those fantastic, thrilling drummers. That is definitely what's missing here. I held out hope for a mini CV reunion, that didn't happen. BOA has definitely improved over the past year or two since they started up, though. They've become much tighter and sound less like a derivation of their former band.

Here's the point where I apologize for the fractured nature of this post. I woke up at 5:10 in the AM, and couldn't fall back asleep. I decided I'd finally get around to writing this, and I think when I read it when I wake back up in a couple of hours, I'll be chagrined or something. So, sorry, I could come back and edit this, but that kinda goes against the spirit of a blog. Doesn't it? Maybe not. I'm sleepy again. I did correct a few glaring grammar errors, the next day, though.