Tonight, former Good Sons' frontman turned fine solo performer Michael Weston King is holding court in the sublime setting of Bush Hall.
It's a bigger night out than many of his intimate club soirees, but MWK'S anything but dwarfed by the cavernous surroundings. He proceeds to cajole us with his winning fusion of roots-rock and alt country-flavoured pop, with the added intensity only serving to make it more attractive still.
Lou Dalgleish starts the set on piano, and after a wistful opening number, she is joined onstage by Alan Cooke on slide guitar and Michael Weston King himself.They continue to treat us to large chunks of material taken from new live outing "Absent Friends" and the recent studio outing "A Decent Man," augmented by early outings for doomy Townes Van Zandt cover "A Song For" and a triumphant version of Good Sons' favourite "Tim Hardin '65."
MWK is in easy-going raconteur mood, telling all manner of stories like the one about staying at the Bristol Hotel, the coolest hotel in all of Oslo. The media was meant be there as well, but he ended up "playing to 22 people and dining alone." This intro is the prelude to new song "Rosencrantz And Kristengate" with its ironic "take me to the tip of the iceberg, take me to the top of the world" chorus.
With Alan Cook picking up the mandolin on new song "My Heart Stopped Today", MWK emotes: "Why, Oh Why did my heart stop today I want to love you, but today I hate." With his deep voice echoing sorrowfully around the appreciative hall, it takes on a spectral resonance.
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The Good Sons' "The Girl That Got Away" is revisited to cheers of approval. It's extremely well crafted and with its mesmerisingly dark passages, it once again pricks the evening's mood. Noting he's been affored "nice lights and big dressing room" before the Van Zandt tribute "Lay Me Down",they hit the home stretch and a moving "Celestial City" closes the set on a memorably high note.
Despite the dark lyrical content of many of his songs, Michael Weston King is far from the stereotype of the bitter Alt.Country singer/ songwriter. His songs bleed experience, but come with silver linings aplenty and stay with you afterwards. We drift out into the night knowing we've witnessed something pretty special from an under-rated performer who can make the transition to these bigger halls with ease.
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