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The Sun Kings Live Concert Review: Little Fox Theater, Redwood City, California, 12/31/07 (Concert Review by Beverly Paterson – TLM Staff Writer) |
Now here's an anomaly. The Sun Kings are the first and only Beatles tribute band I have come across that includes five members. Well, they always claimed there was a fifth member. George Martin? Murray the K? Billy Preston? The ghost of Buddy Holly? Though concept may be visually incorrect, The Sun Kings still manage to duplicate and capture the essence of The Beatles flawlessly. And that's what matters.
High octane from start to finish, the band played no ballads. Nothing but raunchy rock and roll was the order of the evening. Kicking off the show with the appropriately selected "Rock and Roll Music," The Sun Kings proceeded to plumb the depths of the early Beatles catalog with spot on exuberance. "From Me To You," "Please Please Me," "I Call Your Name," "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "A Hard Day's Night," "I Feel Fine" and "Eight Days a Week" spurred the already fired up audience into going positively crazy. For a moment there, I expected The Sun Kings to be pelted with jelly babies. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! The band was so tight and rocking that they did indeed drive some of the more animated fans into engaging in some interesting behavior. In fact, a group of folks were so into it that it appeared as if they were having an orgy. With their clothes on, I might add. All you need is love indeed.
The Sun Kings then moved onto middle period Beatles, as they spooled out gems such as "The Night Before," "I'm Looking Through You," "Wait," "You Won't See Me," "Nowhere Man" and "Paperback Writer." Psychedelic hues soon entered the fray, ignited by a spellbinding version of "I Am the Walrus" that's even more druggy and intense than the original recording, if you can believe that. "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Hello Goodbye" were delivered in typical trippy tones, while "Revolution," "Back in the USSR" and "Birthday" crashed and crunched with aggression. "Hey Jude" was the song that accompanied us into the new year. A good choice, to be sure.
Shortly after the stroke of midnight, John performed "Imagine," and upon the singing the line, "imagine no possessions," a lady in the crowd screamed, "No, I can't imagine no possessions!" A shopaholic was obviously in our presence. And The Sun Kings jammed on. "Two of Us," "Come Together," "Oh! Darling" and "I've Got A Feeling" were downright phenomenal. The gig concluded to the beauty, grace and raw passion of the second side of the "Abbey Road" album, with every single note lodged firmly in place. Cool drum solo, blistering guitar interplay and the harmonies were sent straight from heaven. The Sun Kings definitely passed the audition...