THE MARCUS KING BAND
The future of blues comes to Fuji Rock
Marcus King has been playing the blues guitar since such an early age it has become second nature. Like you or I breaths in air or speak our mother tongue, Marcus rips through wild and complicated blues riffs. Hailing from South Carolina and growing up playing with his Father Marvin, a fellow blues man, Marcus has been playing the blues in front of crowds since before he started grade school.
He recruited a similarly skilled group of band mates to play next to him ranging from a bass, drums, trumpet, sax and keys. While they all are incredibly skillful and were given a brief time to solo and let loose on this late night set in the Crystal Palace, it is clearly young Marcus who is the star of the show.
The 45 minute set wasn’t quite long enough for Marcus to prove what he is capable of, but did give all in attendance a great taste of a blues legend in the making. His shorter set here gave those in attendance great incentive to take in the following day’s longer set at the Field of Heaven. I did indeed take in both days of the Marcus King Band and while I wont comment too much on Saturday’s set here, I will say it was a classic and included a guest.
There is festival buzz around this kid as of late and for good reason. If you like blues, soul, Americana or just enjoy hearing the guitar played with incredible skill, don’t miss Marcus King the next time he comes around. And at 21 years young and lots of time to get even better, have no doubt he will indeed come around again and again.
