I Am Giant @ Kings Arms, Auckland 31/01/14

Two long serving Kiwi rock icons, one of NZ’s best session guitarists, and one of the most unmistakable voices in the English rock scene that you could compile together onto one stage at any one time – this is I Am Giant.

With a string of amazing rock numbers such as Purple Heart, Neon Sunrise and their latest single Razor Wire Reality how could I deny the opportunity to see I Am Giant play live at the Kings Arms with support from two of my other favourite bands, Flirting With Disaster and Fire At Will.

I made sure I got to the gig early, and even an hour before the gig there was already a line of people waiting for the doors to open – so I took my place in line and waited. After showing my ticket and observing some of the awesome merch they had on display, grabbed an ice cold beer, caught up with a few of the support crew and some friends, and made sure I had the best spot in the room to listen.

The Kings Arms quickly packed out. Just when I thought that another body wouldn’t fit, a string of 5 people came through the door and somehow managed to sneak through sweaty bodies to find somewhere to stand.  I don’t recall another gig having numbers like this at the Kings Arms.

I was eager to hear Flirting With Disaster, as I had heard recorded demo’s, and their frontman Chaz Valentine (ex singer from The Rabble) is definitely a showman. They put on an absolute bulletproof set – amazing energy, great notes, and seemed extremely humble to be opening for I Am Giant. They also threw in one of my favourite covers Bullion by Swedish punk rockers Millencolin.

With quite a lot of recent radio play, Fire At Will again put on a great show. I have seen these guys a few times in the last 6 months, and they are definitely a band to keep an eye on as their live set is every part as good as their recordings.

Finally Shelton Woolright hit the stage laying down his thick drum beats, followed by massive phat bass grooves which are unique to only one bass player I have ever heard – Paul Matthews. Andrew Kerr (Fish) complimenting the band perfectly with tight guitar licks and equal energy, only topped by the energy of frontman Ed Martin on stage.

I’ve been to literally hundreds if not thousands of gigs in the last 15 years of both other bands and my own bands, but I Am Giant did something completely unique and exclusive to me dragging as many of their fans up onto stage with them as they could fit to join in while they played the last few songs. It looked amazing from front of house. A few minor hiccups with sound due to someone stumbling over a bass lead, but that didn’t detract from the awesomeness of the show.

Quite honestly, the bar has been set extremely high for any other bands to try and top this year. I can’t wait for the next single to hit early this year.