Krooked Kings Raises The Bar For Monday Night Shows
I'll be honest, the bar is typically pretty low for Monday night shows. It's not that the shows I typically go to on Mondays are crappy, but more that I don't expect much from a crowd at them. I mean, come on, nobody really loves Mondays, and most people don't even go out on the first day of the week, so, as I said, low bar. That being said, Monday night at the 7th Street Entry raised that bar. It wasn't the busiest show I've ever been to or the most energized, but there was something magical in the air that made it feel more like a Thursday than a sleepy and cold Monday.
Annika Wells was the one and only opening act, but being someone so talented and so beautiful inside and out, she was absolutely more than enough and gave the audience everything you could ever ask for from an opening act and more. Annika is sweet and bubbly, but there's an edge to her that comes through in her music. Sometimes that edge comes from a grit in her voice, other times it comes from the snark in the words. Regardless of where the edge is coming from, it's something that definitely sets her apart from many of the other pop-based singer-songwriters out there, and it's what had me hanging onto every note and every word of her quick opening set on Monday.
Annika isn't just a solo artist. I don't mean that because of the fact that she was joined on stage by a drummer and guitarist, but it means more in the way that she has collaborated with more big names than I have the time to write. Those names range from ILLENIUM to the Jonas Brothers. Really, Annika's journey through music has been insane. She started in a more electronic world and has completely shifted to what I got to hear on Monday night. I'll be honest, I am much more into what I got on Monday than her more electronic-influenced work from just a few years ago, but, really, everything this woman does seems to feel like gold, and I think that's because she puts her blood, sweat, and tears into it all. You can hear it, but more importantly, you can feel it just like I did on Monday at the 7th Street Entry.
Have you ever heard "Dark Blue" by Jack's Mannequin? I know for those outside of the pop-punk scene, this could be considered a bit of a deep cut, but this is a song that I absolutely adore, and it's mostly because of one line: "Have you ever been alone in a crowded room..." Okay, that's not the full line, but that little snippet of that slice of musical gold is a line that often circles my head when at concerts. Sometimes it's a depressing thought, other times it's a liberating one, but I feel like the feeling of being alone in a crowded room is one that everyone can relate to at some time or another, either at a concert or beyond. Why am I bringing up this little slice of nostalgia? Because when you go see Krooked Kings live, you never feel alone.
I'll get into the music, I promise, but that's not what stood out to me during Krooked Kings' set on Monday. What stood out to me was the way vocalist Oli Martin made you feel like this set was for you. It wasn't just in the delivery of the words, honestly, it didn't have anything to do with that. It had to do with the way he would constantly be scanning the room, and it felt like he wasn't afraid to make eye contact. For those of you who don't concert nightly like the freak I am, I know this can sound kind of silly. Of course, he was scanning the room, and of course, a front person of a band isn't afraid to make eye contact, I mean, hello, he is on stage under spotlights, but, really, this was something special. I'm not sure if this was on purpose or just something that he has learned to do over the years and he wasn't really connecting with anyone in the audience but it was something that clearly had me hooked and made me feel like, although I know very little about this band, I was watching one of my favorite bands of all time perform and they were doing it just for me.
Now, onto the music. Sonically, Krooked Kings is an indie-pop band, but that seems like such a simple way to describe their sound and doesn't quite do them justice. There are moments during a Krooked Kings set where you can't help but move around a little. Then there are moments that maybe make you choke up a bit as the lyrics and music seem to hit your heart in just the perfect way. Krooked Kings seems to patch these vibes together using a thread of sheer emotion and talent to create an always-evolving, always-flowing kind of energy to their set. There's a sense of organic, free love in a way when it comes to how they curate their sound, but there is also this feeling of being so perfectly rehearsed to the point where every note has a place and every note has a meaning. I may not have been singing along to every word like some of the other people in the audience on Monday night, but that didn't mean that the words and sounds weren't hitting me in the same beautiful and powerful way.
I'll be the first to admit that Monday night wasn't the most exciting show for me and, with Gwar dangling ahead of me on Tuesday night, I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that I would be going from this world of peace and beauty to whatever world you want to call Gwar's. All that being said, Monday night with Krooked King and Annika Wells was absolutely perfect and definitely raised the bar as far as Monday night shows are concerned.
