King's X at the Gramercy Theatre

For nearly 45 years, King's X has been rocking hard and touring harder. Vocalist and bassist Doug “dUg” Pinnick, drummer Jerry Gaskill and guitarist Ty Tabor have locked together consistently since 1979, with never a change in personnel. The power trio has not achieved widespread mainstream success, yet, since the release of the band’s debut album in 1988, a fiercely loyal coterie of fans meets the band at every tour stop, even when the band has no new music to showcase. The rabid fans remain steadfast in confidence that these three musicians will perform an amazing concert.

This year’s tour promotes King’s X’s 13th and most recent studio album, Three Sides of One, released in 2022. On the 2022 tour, the band played three songs from the then-upcoming album at the Gramercy Theatre. This year, perhaps in belief that the fans had time to familiarize themselves with the newer music, King’s X played six songs from the album, interspersed liberally throughout the evening’s program.

The evening’s scheduled support act, Trope, canceled suddenly due to a positive Covid test by one of the musicians. As such, King’s X came onstage at 8 p.m. The trio began its set with “Groove Machine,” a song title that in part described the band’s music. Deep, thick bass lines and hard, crashing percussion framed the foundation of the song before soulful lyrics and soaring guitar leads completed the mix. A simple chorus, "Welcome to the groove machine, welcome to the groove," ushered the evening’s mission.

From there, the trio’s secret sauce was its distinctive blend of musical influences, which includes blues, funk, gospel, hard rock and progressive rock. Through a repertoire that reached back to the first album and visited seven subsequent albums, the axis of each song pivoted on three talented musicians all simultaneously playing as if theirs was the lead instrument, while harmonizing both their musical output and their vocals. Intricate yet melodious, this formula made for intriguing compositions.

Periodically, the crowd loudly erupted into chants of “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry,” an organic act which dates back to Gaskill’s heart attack, double bypass surgery and return to the stage in 2015. The audience acknowledged that Gaskill, hair swinging rhythmically in every direction on every song, played the drums ferociously, not at all like someone who has relaxed to safer and more reserved levels. Pinnick and Tabor similarly attacked their instruments with strength and taste.

The set featured deep cuts and fan favorites. The better-known songs included “Pillow”, “Over My Head”, “We Were Born to Be Loved” and “Dogman,” several of which elicited singalongs from the faithful. Although “King” was listed on the set list taped to the stage, the song was not played; in fact, the band has not played “King” in New York City in many years. The concert concluded as it has many times before, with King’s X playing the instrumental portion of “Goldilox,” turning the microphones toward the audience and allowing the audience to sing the entire song back to the band.

Throughout the concert, Pinnick, Tabor and Gaskill displayed a tapestry that evolved from their five-decades-long commitment to each other and their musical collaborations. Several times, Pinnick, as spokesperson for the band, recognized that the band continues to exist only through its passionate supporters. The simple act of entrusting the audience to sing a song that was little-known to mainstream music fans allowed the fan base to prove its merit as a small yet massively dedicated community of champions for an outstanding rock trio, King’s X.

Setlist

1. Groove Machine
2. The World Around Me
3. Pillow
4. Flies and Blue Skies
5. Vegetable
6. All God's Children
7. Nothing but the Truth
8. Give It Up
9. Let It Rain
10. Festival
11. Summerland
12. Over My Head
13. Pleiades
14. Watcher
15. We Were Born to Be Loved
16. Dogman
17. Goldilox

Related archived articles in The Manhattan Beat

King’s X at the Gramercy Theatre (2022)

King's X at the Gramercy Theatre (2019)

King's X at Sony Hall (2018)

King's X at City Winery (2017)

King's X at Stage 48 (2015)

King's X at Stage 48 (2014)

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The Manhattan Beat reports on New York City's live music circuit. All articles are written by Everynight Charley Crespo. All photographs are taken by Everynight Charley Crespo, except when noted otherwise.

For a list of Manhattan venues that are presenting live music regularly, swing the desktop cursor to the right of the The Manhattan Beat home page and click on the pop-up tab "Where to Find Live Music."

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