Saturday 09/11/02 King Adora @ Academy 2, Liverpool

It's Saturday night in Liverpool, and little Dickie Ashcroft is crooning his heart out next door "the druuugs down't wooork, blah de blah, tum de tum"… **** THAT!!!
The Drugs DO work, and here's living proof - it's the return of King Adora! Make up? Check. Pouts? Check. Blitzkrieg-power chords dreamt up by Satan himself? CHECK!.

The only thing that's missing is a record deal. Why the hell this band are unsigned is beyond me. To play a venue last played a year ago to virtually no-one and in the meantime do absolutely **** ALL except get dropped by a major, then return and nearly ram the place is some achievement.

Visually, KA have moved slightly away from the Manics-sleeping-rough-circa94 approach towards a classic 70's rawk kinda vibe. OK, Maxi should still be inline for an endorsement from Maybelline, but the signals are of a more muscular, earthy kind.

Anyway, enuff about the look… what about the sounds?. Awesome, just bleedin' awesome. Opening with a chaotic 'The Law' the boys just don't take their foot off the gas. New tune 'Tokyo' teams up with Slade and rips Blondie's 'Union City Blue' a new arsehole, 'Bionic' is, well…… bionic and the opening sample of 'Smoulder' transforms the event from gig to communion. But let's not forget old favourites 'Big Isn't Beautiful', 'Suffocate', and 'Scream and Shout', along with barnstormin' newie 'Kamikaze'. The crowd go mental, the band go mental and ears bleed.

If I haven't spelt it out above, I'll just clarify - drop yer pretensions and just go mental at a King Adora gig as soon as you bloody well can.

Photos by Bob Iddon