Kaki King Live Review @ ICA - Institute of Contemporary Arts (London) - 04 Oct 2008

Photo: Kimberley Sklinar

Live Review

Kaki King, American solo guitar queen, left us wide-eyed and begging for more after her gig at the trendy Institute of Contemporary Arts. The guitar-shredding Kaki, who recently toured with Foo Fighters, is essentially a one-woman show with occasional accompaniment from Dan Brantigan on vox. She's a relatively unknown genius with five albums under her belt, but is on the brink of 'legend' status having been compared to the likes of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.

Following the recent release of her new album, 'Dreaming of Revenge', the intriguing songstress performed hits such as 'Playing With Pink Noise', 'Night After Sidewalk' and the catchy 'Gay Sons of Lesbian Mothers' as she attacked the strings.

Her sound, for those not in the know, essentially comprises of ethereal, dreamy acoustics sprinkled with catchy repetitive riffs and unusually, very little vocal input. Listening to her play, hypnotised in concentration or perhaps fascinated by her own talents, had the crowd captivated.

Giving in to peer (crowd) pressure to do an unplanned performance of her her famed cover of Justin Timberlake's 'Lovestoned', it was hard to believe that her first instrument was the drums. Kaki recorded several loops on her guitar, then strummed and sang along leaving the crowd in awe. Her style is that of a complete individual, a musical maverick if you will, as she slaps, attacks and manipulates her instrument to create complex layers of sound.

Kaki seemed less than charismatic at first, with only her and Dan on stage, but warmed up halfway through the set cracking a few jokes and even embarking on an album sales-pitch at one point before continuing with more guitar gymnastics as the audience looked on.

Blew me away. Having seen her on YouTube is one thing, but Kaki is a must-see live. She is going to be huge!

Kim Sklinar