Live Review: Kaki King

The introverted and wildly talented instrumentalist began her set on Saturday with no introduction, no banter and no back-and-forth with the audience, but she didn't need that. Kaki King's guitars speak for her. So she kicked off her set with a simple 'hey' and began to play a little Irish ditty. The Bakery in Northbridge was nowhere near capacity, probably because of the cold-snap, but that didn't matter, because everyone in the room gathered close. Instead of spreading out across the floor, sitting down outside, trying to get drinks or hit on people, most of the patrons on Saturday were completely fixated on the elegant dance between King's left and right hands.

Getting everyone's attention with her opening number, she established her presence in the room quickly with one of her “tapping, hammering, pulling and whatever else she's doing” tunes, Bone Chaos In The Castle. Not a single individual could deny her talent after that, and she painted the bold contrast immediately afterwards with Holding The Severed Self. Largely (and not surprisingly) the set was centred around her new album, Glow, which was released in October of last year, and so the audience was treated to a lot of new material. Glow is a rich pocket of earth that features some of King's best work yet, and certainly no one minded her playing it.

After a couple of the new album's tracks, Kelvinator, Kelvinator and Streetlight In The Egg, she began to show why she lets the guitar speak for her: Awkward banter and incomplete sentences were all she could muster when talking about her music and her life and the stories behind her songs, but as it was pointed out to me, that is what happens when you spend years locked away in your room while working on your craft. Kaki King's introversion had a certain charm about it, and her ramblings just made you smile.

Not just a lovely little concert, Saturday night was for many an engaging and thoroughly interesting lesson. King used four different guitars and her guitar tech constantly brought them out to her with alterations and maintenance done to them. She had a miniature 12-string that she played faster fingerpicking pieces like King Pizel on and her very own signature Ovation six-string. She had another six-string that looked seemingly conventional until the tech fixed it with a “Vo96 Acoustic Synthesizer” for some songs, and a new bridge for another, and her custom made seven-string “crop circle” guitar, which looked warped due to the inventive fret alignment.

If you were standing in a spot where you could see what she was doing, your jaw was on the ground. Kaki King plays a multitude of styles with the approach of the self-taught roots/folk guitarists that make a name for themselves on either the Internet or busking in the streets, but with the knowledge and intention of someone educated well in the ways of jazz and classical styles. King clearly shows that she can hear the sound she wants from her guitar, and then backs it up with the astounding ability to play it. The rapt silence of the audience huddled into one corner of the Bakery on Saturday night only goes to show people agree.