Page 29 - Black Velvet Issue 87

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A (Musical) Note From...

Ck Gillon - the king lot

cottish, melodic, hard rock band The King Lot hit the road in support of their critically-acclaimed debut album over October/No-
Svember, opening for Dan Reed Network and Electric Boys, then as special guests and backing band for Love/Hate’s Jizzy
Pearl across the UK. Drummer CK Gillon has kept a tour diary...
0th October: the band and crew meet on the run and show us great support. Brilliant! Post-show we spend a long while signing al-
2to load up for the first leg of our 11 date While Dan Reed Network and Electric bums and posing for selfies. It’s an incredible
‘Fear The Beard’ UK tour. Needless to say, Boys head for Rockingham Festival in Notting- reaction from the Welsh people who clearly
we’re all ready to kick this off. With Whitesnake ham we catch up with our friends Fireroad for love live music. Back at the hotel there's a
blasting on the stereo all the way from Edin- a show in South Wales. It’s an incredibly re- black-tie ball going on. Jizzy insists we gate-
burgh, the journey flies by as we arrive at Club laxed night with passionate fans and brilliant crash it but we’re promptly ushered out and
Academy, Manchester. We meet Electric Boys performances by all making it one to remem- end up drinking with fans and friends in the bar
and their driver, who jokes, “This looks like a ber. ‘til the wee small hours.
scene from ‘Sons of Anarchy’; I hope I don’t O2 Academy Islington in London; the last Derwin and Paul, who run the excellent Di-
get buried in the desert.” Next we meet the date on this run proves to be extra special. amond Rock Club, greet us at Belfast airport.
Network guys and everyone in both bands to Dan Reed invites us onstage with Electric They’re great guys doing an incredible job,
a man is exceptionally gracious and cool. The Boys for a jam on ‘Get To You’; unforgettable their hospitality is second to none and the
first show is excellent and everyone hits the stuff and a great way to mark the end of a fan- place is full and jumping. What an atmosphere!
ground running. Feeling hungry after load out, tastic tour. Michael even gets a rousing rendi- We hang out drinking Irish whisky with regu-
we take Electric Boys for a kebab... the poor tion of ‘Happy Birthday’ from the capacity lars followed by a late night lock-in ahead of
Swedish lads don’t know how they’ll feel to- audience. the early flight to London.
morrow. Fast forward a few days; Jizzy Pearl is fly- Jizzy tells us to expect a big crowd at
The venue has been upgraded tonight and ing in from Las Vegas and we meet for the first Camden Underworld and the familiar faces
O2 Academy 2, Newcastle is rammed when time. Everyone is a bit tentative; delivering the from every show on the run are here in force
we rock the place with a short-sharp-shock of songs for the 25th anniversary of the classic too, which is great to see. After a great re-
six songs; the Network guys watch our set too, ‘Blackout In The Red Room’ record and more sponse to our own show, Jizzy walks onstage
which is cool to see. The shared dressing is no mean feat. First night and the atmos- to the distinctive intro of ‘Cream’, the crowd
room is the balcony of the larger venue down- phere is electric. Jizzy's “Let’s do this” attitude roar and he’s treated like a returning hero. He
stairs and we watch Asking Alexandria but the and ‘circle of trust’ are both positive and reas- introduces the band, “My friends The King Lot
moshpit ‘aroma’ soon puts us off our cheese suring. We warm up the crowd, rise to the chal- from Scotland” to a rapturous response. "They
and biscuits. lenge of his repertoire and receive an said they knew the songs… turns out they do!"
We’re buzzing all the way to O2 ABC on incredible reaction from diehard fans. Every- The crowd agrees and we finish the set in fine
Sauchiehall Street; Glasgow is one of our one’s happy! style with an impromptu AC/DC number.
favourite places to play, we know it’ll be a great We’re ready to get back to Newcastle and Thank you London, you are amazing!
night and we’re not disappointed. We go on to Jizzy regales us with funny L.A. stories making Thanks to: our crew, everyone involved in
a busy room and tear through our set with the journey pass quickly. It’s a packed crowd making this happen, the Dan Reed Network
extra swagger and confidence in the belief the at Think Tank?, they’re up for it and sing along guys, Electric Boys and their crews for being
Scots will support us. The crowd is incredible from the first song of the Love/Hate set. By the so gracious and great fun and thanks to King
and our new pals deliver excellent sets too. end, the place is bouncing and Jizzy has them Jizzo for an incredible experience.
Before they take to the stage, DRN drummer in the palm of his hand. We meet more great CK
Dan Pred announces, “I’m wearing one of The folks and sign a bunch of stuff before retiring
King Lot T-shirts onstage tonight, I want to rep- to the plush hotel where Mötley Crüe stayed a Visit www.facebook.com/wearethekinglot
resent.” Pretty cool! Post-show we all head to couple of nights ago. Good enough for us! for more info on The King Lot
The Garage club nearby to celebrate. We hear The Tivoli will be full and we’re
The famous Tivoli venue in Buckley, North not disappointed. The night is complete with In a band? Want to write a one-off col-
Wales is our next stop. It’s another excellent stagediver, women swinging their bras (thanks umn for Black Velvet? Get in touch. Email
night and we meet some cool folks who’ve Saucy!), Jizzy is in top form and the crowd laps editor@blackvelvetmagazine.com.
travelled a fair distance, caught other shows it up, demanding the first encore of the tour.

THE KING LOT