Kings of music heat up the State

The State Theatre was practically empty when Chicago's favorite Blues/Swing band, The Mighty Blue Kings, opened up the Kings of the Road tour in Detroit last Friday. There could not have been more than 100 people on the main floor to watch the opening act, which took the stage at 7:30 p.m.

Face to Face touched down on the State's stage at approximately 8:15, and opened its heart-pounding set with last year's minor radio hit, "I Won't Lie Down." With a new face behind the drums, and an enthusiastic but energetic crowd in front of the stage, the So-Cal punk band pressed on, playing a full 45 minutes worth of its road-tested tunes. Drawing from the four albums the band has released in the past eight years, the set included the classic "Disconnected," "Pastel," "Do you Care?" and "Blind."

REVIEW
	Kings of the Road April 10, 1998 State Theater

On tour to promote its latest release, "Live" ( Vagrant Records), Face to Face proved, as it has at each and every past Detroit appearance, that it is truly a "King of the Road." Surprisingly, for an opening act, that is, Face to Face returned to the stage to quell the cheers of the fans that had gathered in the theatre during its set to perform a two-song encore. The band finally ended its portion of the show with "You've Done Nothing," the first song on its first ever record, "Don't Turn Away."

The stage cleared, and people began to filter into the State anticipating the arrival of the Reverend Horton Heat. By the time the three-piece psychobilly band found its way to the stage around 9:30 p.m., the theatre was probably half full. Apparently other Detroit area concerts that night (The Specials and The Cherry Poppin' Daddies, for example) had taken the crowd away from the State that night.

The Rev (the man, not the band) appeared promptly at 9:30, dressed in a black tuxedo, with flaming red accents and a red bow tie. With a light show blazing and smoke machines set on high, the band began its performance. An upbeat instrumental number started off the set, and began what was to be an hour-and-a-half-long stint punctuated by guitar solo after guitar solo, and constant mugging from the Rev.

Approximately 25 minutes into the set, the Rev stopped the show, claiming that he was going to "have a cocktail." The break in the action allowed a backdrop change to take place. When the band returned to the stage, it was playing in front of a massive cityscape scene.

Unfortunately, whoever happened to be running the sound system at the State this past Friday seemed not know what they were doing. A muddy mix of noise, the Rev's voice and intricate finger picking were lost every once and a while as the night wore on. Jimbo Wallace's string bass was also nearly drowned out by the noise. Instead of crystal clear guitar tone, sharp beats from the drum kit, and a steady thump of the bass, the crowd was fed a steady diet of mixed booms and cracks from the overworked PA system.

That did not stop the Rev from putting on an entertaining show. The band drew from its three albums throughout the evening, with the bulk of its music coming from its latest release "Space Heater." The band cranked out old favorites like "It's Martini Time," "Nurture My Pig" and "J-I-M-B-O," from the new record.

From his preaching about Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton, to his asking the crowd "Can I get a hallelujah?," the small crowd at the State seemed to enjoy themselves. The Reverend Horton Heat was preaching to the choir, and the group loved every last evangelic word.

04-16-98