King Brothers
w/ Alka Silka and Cindy
Valhalla, Wellington
Thursday 13 February 2025
When it comes to crazy rock music, Japan punches well above its weight.
In recent years I’ve seen the likes of Guitar Wolf, Shonen Knife and Otoboke Beaver, but King Brothers are by far the best I’ve seen.
I saw them when they came with The Vottones in 2018 and honestly, that show made a huge impression on me. They came back to NZ in 2023 but didn’t make it to Wellington, and I was busy touring with a band of my own, so I sadly I couldn’t see them.
But late last year the legend Austin from Your Enabler Presents put the announcement out. King Brothers were coming back! I made sure to purchase a ticket as soon as possible. It’s already an incredibly stacked year for gigs, but this is the one I’ve most been looking forward to.
I arrived at Valhalla a few songs into Cindy’s set. Scott Brown was in The DHDFDs, who played with King Brothers last time I saw them, and have toured with King Brothers extensively. I guess this is his new band – I couldn’t find too much info about either. Cindy was certainly a great way to start the night, with high energy, unfiltered rock music. Seeing a sweaty, topless, heavily tattooed drummer is a great start. Stubbies also add a special je ne sais quoi to the performance. It was frantic, fast paced music with attitude. My favourite part was when the guitarist climbed up to the storage area on the side of stage just to jump back down. It was like Eddie Vedder behaviour, but with vocals that were marginally easier to understand.
Alka Silka were on next. The first thing to note is that their lead instrument was accordion. This gave an odd folk vibe to otherwise raucous punk/rock music. The punk ethos ran strong, with their activism, music and DIY merch. Two members had prominent patches on their clothes decrying the genocide in Palestine. And they had some great quirky merch, with lots of DIY designed shirts, badges, some 7″ records and the like. I had a great time listening to their music. The accordion was interesting, as was the frequent use of cowbell in the drumming. It was almost like circus music with blastbeats. They shared vocal duties, with lots of chanting and shouting. “Okinawa is a small island with a big voice”, they offered, about their homeland. Well the big voice came through loud and clear.
And then we had King Brothers. They brought the drumkit off the riser to the front of stage to be closer to the audience. Will the soundtech was busy putting all the microphones back in place after the move and I mentioned to him that he needn’t stress too much about it because they wouldn’t be staying put. He laughed and nodded, saying he could tell that King Brothers were pretty restrained during soundcheck and he was expecting more, but he had no idea what the full extent would be.
The trio were all dressed in suits. They started off with drums front and centre, and the two guitarists flanking the drums, each standing atop their amps, riffing away before jumping down to commence their set.
Marya on guitar and screams had gaffer tape around his waist in lieu of a belt and his hair had greyed since I last saw him, but his energy hadn’t dissipated one iota. He screamed into the microphone before throwing it into the audience. He’d beckon and signal that he needed it back, before immediately throwing it back out. It was we were playing fetch with him. Audience members would take turns screaming into the mic as well, but I wonder if they were happy about it when Marya began licking and slobbering on it, putting it into his mouth. He also picked his nose and ate it to continue the gross-out tactics. The other two musicians were just as intense in their playing, but Marya was the star.
Roughly half way through the set they dismantled the drumset and reassembled it in the middle of the audience. They signaled to Will to turn off the stagelights, relying solely on a worklight they’d stuck on a mic stand for illumination. Well that, and a dozen or so phone lights. It was such a spectacle, everyone needed to film some of it. It was almost too wild to believe. Marya beckoned us closer before pouncing, and began to crowd surf around, doing arial donuts around his bandmates who were now performing in the middle of the room.
It was an incredible night. Three amazing acts that all had their own flavour, but delivered memorable sets full of crazed energy. I highly recommend getting along to a show if you get the chance.
King Brothers are playing the following dates in NZ:
Thursday 13th February – Valhalla, Wellington
Friday 14th February – Double Whammy, Auckland
Saturday 15th February – Palace Tavern, Tauranga
Sunday 16th February – Harbour View Hotel, Raglan
Tickets: https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/index.php?task=searchall&q=king+brothers
Words and photos by Joseph James