Maffa Kings @ The King Billy (Northampton)
23-07-2010
The Maffa Kings at the King Billy, Northampton
Review by J Appleby
The King Billy is one of my favourite haunts for local music in Northampton.
The biker bar venue puts on unsigned, original acts every Thursday night. Usually, it’s a metal, in yer face, gotta wear ear plugs kind of gig but this particular night bucked the trend in a good way.
The night started out with Northampton’s own Muscle Mobile. Think tongue-in-cheek, Tenacious D complete with its own little blue, Cookie Monster type sidekick. This trio is really active in the local music scene and always attracts a decent crowd.
Headlining the night was a Derby five-piece called The Maffa Kings. They combine a rocked-up, darkened mixture of southern soul, reggae, grunge and funk. With lead singer, Lee Moran in fedora hat and skinny white jeans, the band played a crowd-satisfying eight song set including tracks off their new EP, Writing the Wrongs which was released late-July. These include animalistic, percussion-accented songs like Flatline Beat and Horse To Town which crescendo to a reel of hook-laden, lyrical chants. These are definitely ones to watch out for as they never disappoint in a live performance.
