Kaki King, The HazelmanBrothers @ The Corner,Melbourne (27/04/08)

Tue 29th Apr, 2008 in Gig Reviews

“You won’t be able to see anything but it’ll still sound good.” Kaki King pretty much summed it up herself as she sat down on Sunday night. The gig wasn’t sold out, but it was certainly full enough that you wouldn’t be able to see the masterful hand work of the American guitarist unless you were right down the front. The already tiny King opting to be seated for the majority of her set meant that hearing would have to do for the most part – though there weren’t too many objections. King has been labelled with all sorts of – œguitar great’ statuses, and she only went on to prove it to an Australian audience once again at the Corner Hotel.

Opening for the solitary “girl with a guitar” were locals The Hazelman Brothers. The three lads set the stage with their trio of acoustic guitars, along with some extremely polished harmonies. A great local act to keep an eye on, the brothers ended the set with a cover of Bjork’s Hyperballad, to which their vocal harmonies really made the song their own.

Kaki King walked out looking rather shocked at the crowd before her, “Are you at the right gig? Am I at the right gig?” Her amazement at the crowd was rewarded with sheer silence. The Corner crowd seemed genuinely appreciative that she was even on stage, and she hadn’t even begun to play. Blaming a mighty hangover from her tour with the Foo Fighters – they just don’t stop drinking – King admitted that she hadn’t prepared any set-list, and was seemingly beside herself as she rambled on.

Guitar at the ready, King proceeded with her introduction – and her sheer dominance over the guitar had to be seen to be believed. Fret tapping and slap bass riddled her performance and anyone would have thought King was playing multiple instruments. The speed and accuracy of string plucking and percussive tapping was plain incredible. From that point on, the set consisted of almost solely instrumental tracks. Life Being What It Is was one of only three tunes sung during the night, and King’s ecstatic stage presence meant that these seemed a little vocally rushed. Thankfully the remainder of tracks were all about the guitar.

Amongst a lot of improvisation from King, standout instrumentals included So Much For So Little – which demonstrated the frenetic pace that King’s fingers can move at – and Playing With Pink Noise – which combined rapid guitar tapping with the same speed. Regular band member, string changer extraordinaire, and sound tech Dan Bratigan also joined King on stage for one number, performing on analogue EVI – or what had newly been labelled “The Bong of Destiny” (a Tenacious D reference, no less). The track was by the duo’s side project Day Sleeper and consisted of an eerie, spaced-out, progressive sound that was well and truly far off King’s standard material.

Australian veteran guitarist Jeff Lang then joined King on stage for a more rock-driven performance. Both King and Lang seemed equally thrilled to be playing alongside each other and delivered a frenetic number that saw King move from guitar to drums as Lang slid away on lap steel. Keeping with the drums, Bratigan returned on guitar for the encore, as the pair played a cover of a song by their favourite Brisbane musician Kate Cooper.

Kaki King is an extraordinary guitarist and it was a real shame that, despite being able to hear the detail, only half the crowd could actually get a good glimpse at the handy work. It was also a little strange how incredibly surprised King seemed at the crowd – though the respectful silence would have sent her a pretty clear message that she’s doing something right.