THE GIG: King’s X

THE VENUE: The Arcada Theater, St. Charles Illinois

THE DATE: April 15, 2023

Prog magazine sent me to review King’s X with the purpose of writing a review for the magazine. I know a lot less about King’s X than I should. So, I accepted the assignment with enthusiasm.

I wasn’t being paid to take pictures, but I took my camera anyway. It’s a minor habit. As I listened to the remarkable music King’s X made (very low-end growly and bluesy, great for head-banging), I wandered around the theater, snapping photos.

The audience managed to make things a little tricky. Since my emphasis was on taking notes for the review, I didn’t establish myself up front and next to the stage like I usually do. The Arcada is a seated venue, but the audience chose to ignore that. Not only did they stand, but they all moved forward as though we were in a standing venue. It was impossible for me to get up front.

For now, this series is focused on photos taken on my iPhone. The wrinkle is, the more I use my professional ^ camera, the less I use the phone. So, there were times I was so busy taking pro shots, I completely forgot to use the phone. As a result, I got a lot of good shots from the same angles.

Putting the same shots on a web page would be pretty boring. So, I plan to try some fancy tricks with the pictures on my TikTok page, which you’ll find at https://www.tiktok.com/@cirdecsongs?_t=ZP-8tqBpgvVzIt&_r=1

It also doesn’t help that these guys don’t move around much. Pretty much not at all, really. So, King’s X isn’t the most photogenic band on earth. They’re focused on the music, which is what matters anyway.

Here’s a bit of what I captured on that evening that resulted in a very positive review.

^ — I use the word “professional” loosely. My serious exploration of photography is relatively new. I’ve only been paid a couple of times for my shots, which was nice. But on the whole, it’s a work in progress.

#cirdecsongs

If you would like to have your music reviewed, please contact me at cirdecsongs@gmail.com