Gig reviews for December 2011

Kav, 2nd December

Kevin Gaughan reports.

After a pleasant-ish Friday evening hundred mile jaunt down to Tufnell Park, North London, I embarked on the usual search for a wallet busting multi-storey car park. Having got the low-down from a local, she pointed out that all the parking restrictions I had been swearing at were only applicable on weekday mornings - other than that they were free which was great news as I had had enough by this time.

Having entered the venue, not to be confused with THE Dome in Docklands, this was above a pub. It was a big venue with a big stage, definitely nothing small about this place.

Headlining tonights show was Kav, from Leicester, having played guitar in and co-wrote some material for the Happy Mondays, he now plays with his own Band of Blaggers and alternates between London and Los Angeles.

Kav, having been described as a 'latter day Jagger' by the Guardian, has had a colourful past, having played in several bands and festivals around the world, including Glastonbury. He is currently in the UK promoting his first album which will be released in early 2012.

Kav and his Band of Blaggers © Kevin Gaughan

It was getting late, fast approaching very late o'clock and my legs were getting tired as I insist on standing at all gigs. Sober, sober as a judge as I was driving home later, I was getting grumpy.

None of this mattered when Kav and his Band of Blaggers hit the stage.

Kav opened with Blaggers and Liars, a trademark Kav track which seemed to lend itself nicely to the rooms bassy, yet echoing acoustics. The drums from the meticulously presented Mr Jim Portas, in his suit and sporting Lemmy-style facial hair were sounding deep and full of lusciousness.

This was a superb track to start off with and immediately got the crowd dancing again. This song has a Bluesy feel to it, Kav plays a blues riff which undulates nicely through the song while being backed up by the rest of the band that were playing at a more hard-hitting rock tempo. A combination that worked SO well.

Band of Blaggers © Kevin Gaughan

Lizard King is another perfect fusion of swaggering blues with flourishes of guitar-based rock with some superbly executed but subtly-played guitar solos, with a masterful one near the end. The lyrics to this track showing Kav's diversity with echoes of his past as it was inspired by Jim Morrison and David Icke from Leicester.

Band of Blaggers © Kevin Gaughan

Kav is fantastic to watch live, I expected him to be a bit subdued tonight as he had literally just stepped off a flight from India.

Maybe not quite worshipping his guitar as much as he usually does on stage, but he still looked as fresh as a daisy. With his hybrid mix of enthusiastic swaggery blues with undercurrents of rock he put on a fantastic show and was definitely worth waiting for.

With the release of his first album coming up and some 'killer news' in the pipeline, this man and his band are set for a big year. I look forward to seeing them again SOON.

Click below to watch Kav perform at the gig:

Mr Nice Feat. Howard Marks

Lizard King

Blaggers N' Liars

Kav on ReverbNation.