View on Flickr. Photos by Heather Fitsell/February Photography
Whilst I am old enough (were I naughty in my teenage years) to be the parent of many of tonight’s audience members, there is something that keeps bringing me back to see We The Kings time and time again, and it can be summed up using two words from one of their own songs, “fun” and “love”. We The Kings shows are nothing but damn good fun and they have nothing but genuine love for their fans and for what they do.
Their set list contains predominantly lively tracks including ‘She Takes Me High’ and ‘Friday Is Forever’, which help us to feel a little of their Florida sunshine in chilly London, as everyone jumps up and down, flicks their hair and waves their arms about.
To rapturous screams and cheers from the assembled teenage audience, lead singer/guitarist Travis Clark declares “It has only been a few songs, but it feels like we have all had sex together already!” He also mentions that he has not been feeling too well, but that he won’t let a little sickness force We The Kings to cancel a show. It is at this point that his voice initially starts to break slightly, when he is talking, but as soon as he warms up his vocals through singing, the opening lines of ‘Sweet Valentine’, the cracks start to fade and you have to give him his credit, he properly belts some of the songs tonight and hits the top notes with gusto.
There is a song on the set list surrounded by question marks, so it was clear this song was subject to not being included in the set, but they decided to go with it anyway and so we were treated to a rare performance of ‘All Again For You’; what a treat and well performed too.
They chose to include a cover of Swedish House Mafia’s ‘Don’t You Worry Child’, which went down very well with the audience and will no doubt be equally well received in Europe as they continue to tour.
The great thing about their song writing is the inclusion of simple elements that can get the crowd going such as the “Woah, oh oh oh oh” of ‘Say You Like Me’, for audience members that are not familiar with the band, this can be a great way to get them to join in, but tonight’s crowd need no encouragement there. The wonderful thing about We The Kings’ young audience, that can be lost as bands and their fans get older, is that these fans live for their music, for the band in front of them and where as older audiences may chatter over a pint whilst watching a band, the We The Kings fans sing their absolute hearts out for the entire show, with as much love for the band as the band has for them and that is no more evident than in the final track ‘Check Yes Juliet’.
4.5/5
Words and Photos by Heather Fitsell.