The king and I

Having just been heavily rocked, and with no solid plans except to see The Black Keys later in the day, I went to the Subway Stage to check out Blue King Brown, based purely on the name. Seriously, I thought I'd see some Delta blues dude who once shot a guy, or someone similar. But no - Blue King Brown is an Australian roots-reggae band which, if politics alone determined tour partners, would be on the road with Rage Against The Machine. Their website gives pride of place to sterling references from Carlos Santans, Michael Franti and Serj Tankian of System of A Down and also has a section dedicated to "Activizm." So their hearts are in the right place even if their spelling is a bit dodgy. BKB apparently started as a percussive duo of bassist Carlo Santone and Natalie Pa'apa'a and quickly accreted a slew of members, turning into the festival-hopping combo it is today. I can't say they won me over, despite a world music and reggae kick I've been on of late.

Spanish percussion action from Salvador Persico!



Things pick up with the arrival of organist Sam Cope, bassist Carlo Santone and a pair of backup singers, Hailey Cramer, Nadee and Jess Harlen get the website credits, but I've no idea who's who.



Here's Natalie - I like her earrings, but I'm not so sure about the Michael Stipe style stripe.



She's an active frontwoman ... I didn't think her voice was all that great, though. (The drummer at back is Peter Wilkins, by the way.)



Cesar Rodrigues handles the guitar.



Fist-pumping action!



More singers and Sam!



More Cesar!



And some last minute rocking action ...



A bigger thrill for most of the crowd than me.

• Show reminder; An Acquired Taste For Tragedy, Set Fire To Wicker Park and A Darker Day bring good cheer to the crowd at Zaphod's. Forest, Face of Jam and Prostitute Taxi play The Rainbow; folk festival folk Ray Bonneville and Victoria Vox perform at the Elmdale.