Kings Go Forth at Memorial Union Terrace
C.J. Foeckler
KGF at a previous show.
At what point did the song craft and showmanship of '70s soul music devolve into the shallow, auto-tuned swagger that dominates R&B today? That's what a slack-jawed Decider wondered Saturday while Milwaukee’s Kings Go Forth harnessed the labor and life that once marked classic Motown tunes. After an opening set from Iowa's funk outfit Diplomats Of Solid Sound, KGF hit the stage and immediately spun the Memorial Union Terrace into a giant dance floor with the mind-blowing vocal harmonies of “You’re The One.”
Percussionist Cecilio Negron Jr. flailed with energy as he colored in the tight grooves of drummer Jeremy Kuzniar with conga rhythms, and bassist Andy Noble kept pace expertly with melodic runs. Meanwhile, the brass section interacted with the sugary hooks provided by KGF’s three-vocalist onslaught. Lead singer Danny Fernandez wiggled his tambourine as his vibrato covered the middle range, while the dread-headed Black Wolf and singer-guitarist Matt Norberg coated the mids with call-and-response harmonies, ooh-ooh falsettos, and diving lows. During the 10-piece’s latest 7-inch single, “Don’t Take My Shadow,” guitarist Dan Flynn’s opening guitar line immediately channeled The Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” before the chords of keyboardist Dave Wake flew it to a different place.
The set pulled largely from KGF’s three 7-inches, as well as a handful of new tunes that have us (and David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, which may end up signing the band) eager for a full-length album. While the 10-piece ran through “Isabella,” Decider began thinking about what Motown live performances must've looked like in the past—and how the entire audience must've really known how to dance. The guy twirling glowsticks near the stage was a clear indicator that—in addition to learning how to sing or play instruments—the importance of learning how to dance has decayed rapidly over the last two decades. Despite this, KGF brought several “ladies” from the audience on the stage for the driving funk of set-closer “One Day.” While the “so-sexy-it’s-not” dancing and Wolf's singing “Go ladies! Go Ladies!” made for an odd finish to a set of powerful soul jams, it was nice to seek refuge from the shallow wasteland of current R&B for the night.
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