Marcus King - Live in Grand Rapids
As the early whispers of Summer make their way through Michigan’s West side in the second half of May, I find myself spending the eve of my twentieth birthday in a long line that stretches the majority of Grand Rapids’ Ottawa Avenue, waiting eagerly for the night ahead. It is a perfect day without a cloud in the sky and the line is just as excited as me, composed of people ranging from college students who needed something to do to elderly folks in cowboy hats that have seen this artist well over ten times. It’s my first country show and my first time seeing this artist, one that’s been on my bucket list for around two years at this point. Everyone is all smiles despite the growing heat that hangs in the air, clinging to our skin and hair in a thick humid fog, because nothing can bring us down.
Tonight, we get to witness Marcus King’s return to Beer City.
A few minutes after 7:00 P.M (because let’s be honest, venues are never directly on time), the doors to GLC Live at 20 Monroe open and the line flocks inside. The ambience is energetic and joyous, partly due to the house playlist King himself has crafted, and everywhere you look there is a cheerful ambience: the bar, the pit, the upper mezzanine, the merch booth, you name it. After buying overpriced water, I find myself in the front row, feet slightly sticking to the floor beneath me while I bounce with anticipation for the gig in front of me. Soon enough, JJ Wilde takes the stage.
With most of the performances I attend, I always like to do a little research on the opening act beforehand so I’m at least familiar with their general style: these artists can get overlooked a lot of the time in a show setting so I like to give as much support as I can manage. With JJ Wilde, however, nothing could prepare me for how intoxicating she would be onstage. Her music, a blend of rock, roots, and pop, is extremely transformative in a live setting and I was completely blown away by how well it was received; the crowd fed off of her sweet but strong presence and it felt as if we were seeing a young Brandi Carlile right before our eyes with how cosmically connected Wilde and her bandmates, one of which is her cousin, was. Wilde’s set is the perfect mix of mildness and energy to prepare the crowd for Marcus, who is bound to join us soon.
A few moments after 9:00, the house lights dim and the theme to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly booms out through the dark as the logo for Mood Swings lights up like the Fourth of July. King’s band, a very extensive group consisting of a brass section, a drummer, an organist, and others take the stage with respectful waves and excited jitters that are only noticeable if you’re looking for that sort of thing. Most of the crowd, however, isn’t looking for that: their hungry eyes are searching and waiting for the man himself to appear and sure enough, he does just in time to kick off Beautiful Stranger.
Despite my not-so-amazing view on the far left end of the barricade that prohibits me from seeing King (apart from the top of his hat or a flash of his tattooed arm if he steps forward near the pedalboard), I can still feel his presence because of how electric it is. He is soft spoken because he chooses to communicate through the strings rather than the mic most of the time (although his belting is filled with pure soul!) and his humbleness swims throughout every song as his respective band members each get their own flicker of spotlight: there’s drum solos, trumpet solos, trombone solos, organ solos, and enough guitar solos to last a lifetime.
King’s adoration for his musical inspirations truly shines during his performance in Grand Rapids, as he covers two songs: Danny O’Keefe’s Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues and The Marshall Tucker Band’s Can’t You See. Both renditions are magical and hold that drawly twist King has grounded himself with but the highlight of the entire night is King’s performance of his 2022 song Lie, Lie, Lie. The piece is raw and holds a tempting liveliness that he feeds into thanks to the crowd’s hyperactive engagement. In a press conference I attended at the start of May, King stated that most of his shows and their energy rely on the audience and how they choose to react to him and the music; this particular element of Thursday’s show really proved that to be true.
Tentative yet sure of himself, King ends the night with a simple thank you and the tossing of two guitar picks; one to each side of the stage, and he tuckers off after wrapping up the encore with the aforementioned cover of Can’t You See, signaling the end of yet another fantastic show on the Mood Swings World Tour. The rest of his band follows suit and they leave the insatiable crowd wanting, no, needing more but all we can do is ramble about the night behind us as we file out and take last minute visits to the merch booth. Some of us are headed to follow King to the next city, Cuyahoga Falls, while the rest of us exit with a post-concert high and the desire to see him again, whenever that may be.
After May 30th’s performance in Grand Rapids, Marcus has plenty more shows to play before the conclusion of the Mood Swings World Tour. He will travel through cities such as Oklahoma City, Raleigh, Brooklyn, and even areas like Dublin and Barcelona over the next five months including a special event hosted in his home state of South Carolina for The Marcus King Band Family Reunion. King is truly making his mark as a promising artist that melds elements of country, blues, and rock and I am confident you will hear more from him in the coming years: his showmanship alone makes me certain of that.
Click here to visit Marcus King’s official site that includes merch, tour dates, and more.