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This show was a little Bloodstock reunion of sorts, with our 2 favourite bands from that incredible weekend in August – Courtesans and King 810 – teaming up for what proved to be one of those incredible shows you would count yourself lucky to have been at.
Courtesans have been on our radar for a while now and they have always been nothing short of fantastic live. Sinead’s powerful lyrics and delivery, teamed with Saffire’s guitar and perfect harmonies absolutely grab your attention – that paired with a cool AF rhythm section and there’s no going wrong for this band.
Check out their ‘Better Safe Than Sober’ EP.
With their intro still echoing from the stage, Flint, Michigan’s King 810 entered and proceeded to tear the venue into pieces bit by brutal bit. The words absolute carnage only go half way to describing what happened for the next hour or so.
David Gunn is a man possessed, stomping his way around the stage, disappearing into smoke clouds and reappearing with his body contorted into all kinds of positions.
He sounds like a man on the edge, full of emotion and with a voice that both booms out and sounds vulnerable enough that it could give way at any moment. As fragile as it is ferocious it can either give you goosebumps or break your ribs. Either way it is as heartfelt as you could get.
The set began with Heavy Lies The Crown and Alpha and Omega and the brutality did not let up until a duo of acoustic songs were dished out – probably to give the frenzied crowd a chance to catch it’s breath. It was here the beauty and pure Tom Wait’sness of Take It shone – showing that they had more than just absolute heaviness in their armour.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with absolute heaviness and as soon as Give My People Back and the truly immense Fat Around The Heart boomed out of the speakers the audience were back to their frenzied selves. We even witnessed a guy dislocate his knee in the pit and have his mate sort him out – before going back in!
Hopefully they’ll be back soon to give us all another wake up call, unless as David Gunn says they ‘catch a case they can’t come back from’ but until then if you’ve not had the opportunity to discover King 810 yet, take it now. If you love heavy music you won’t be disappointed, but you’ll be impressed with the new twist they are putting on it.
To see a full gallery of photos from the show click here