Krooked Kings at Turf Club (November 25, 2024)

Caleb Dee, a local Minneapolis, six-piece band was the opener. Dee mentioned that they had also opened for Krooked Kings last year. This was solid indie pop and seemed thematically similar to the headline. The band played an as yet unreleased song for the second in the list, with the four guitars making a rich sound. Dee invited fans to come closer to the stage, and it was one of the very few times I’ve seen that actually work.

The third song Mercy Please had a country feel, including harmonica solo. The next few songs seemed to straddle indie and Americana, though how much of that was colored by the explicitly country feel of the third song is hard to tell. Audience cheered big for the fifth song, Kerosene, which has had a heavier Spotify play. The next song, Face Down, was squarely back in the indie rock vibe for the remainder of the set. It was unclear, but song Discount Store, described as a falling out with Jesus, may have been its public debut. A late addition of a cover of a song called Candy highlighted the unexpected joy of technology, with Dee pulling the lyrics up on his phone. A nearly forty minute set was well timed for the change over the headliner.

Krooked Kings is a five piece indie rock band out of Salt Lake City. Fairly early in the show lead singer Oliver Martin noted that this was their last stop, but that didn’t keep the band from a relentless, upbeat and nearly joyous performance. It was a strong start with the popular Sick of Being Young. The audience must have also felt that energy, because the crowd noticeably filled the front of the house, starting to crowd near the stage. Krooked Kings has a nice indie sound and Martin is clearly comfortable with the lead. Good back up vocals from guitar and bass on either side, and given the heights of all three of them, it’s a pretty imposing look. There’s a veteran quality from the band in knowing how to progress through a show and build up fan engagement. In another break, Martin said it is their second time in Minnesota and asks if anyone was at their 7th St. Entry show. A single cheer gets an amused “well, there was one”, but he quickly rolled that into welcoming new fans. He also mentioned that they have been going between being an opening band and the headlining band recently, but you would never have known that they weren’t always the headliner.

The third song, Suburbia, may best highlight Krooked Kings’ strengths: good guitar work and a really fun sound. In a Mood lets the keyboardist shine and the multiple vocals, up to four during the chorus, create a rich sound. Calls from the band for the audience to sing along for On Again Off Again revealed that there’s some audience members who are longer term fans. The energy/pace on these songs was consistently high. That surprising level of maturity continued to play out as Martin deftly retrieved his copy of the set list from an intoxicated audience member in a quick and nice way (mumbling something to the effect of, “I still need that”). Unless you were right at the front of the stage, it probably wasn’t even noticed.

The song Bird Scooter was a big hit with band and audience alike. A late song, Head Hunters, was a relentlessly driving song that continued the momentum. Perhaps finally showing that this was the end of the tour, instead of going off stage for an encore, they stayed and Martin explained “this is the straight play through”, finishing with Catacombs and Coming of Age.

I got to talk with the band afterwards and immediately asked where that professionalism and confidence comes from, considering they have only been a band for six years (with a pandemic in the middle!). Several band members noted that it comes down to the experience with each other and that they really came together strongly in the pandemic. They feel that every tour stop has exposed the band to vastly different experiences. It’s led to an attitude of having fun even under odd circumstances. As one member noted, “It’s part of the story line. Even if we don’t make it, these are things we can look back on.”

A second topic was about how they keep that high energy level up, particularly for last stop of the tour. Martin (and again, others) noted that a lot of the strength is in the rest of the band and the camaraderie. There was an analogy to being in “low power mode” until the show when it is late in the tour. I also appreciated the description of feeding off the crowd, but looking for the right energy. They can (and do) always look to each other on stage to get to the right place.

As they answered questions, I did feel that I was being given an insight into how Krooked Kings’ creative process works. One person would start an answer and other members would add onto it, riff it into other directions, all in positive way. It was fun to listen to them talk with each other as they went. And ultimately, if there’s a word for Krooked Kings, it may very well be fun. They head back to Utah for now, but they will be back, looking to engage with fans, new and old.