Fun Lovin' Criminals, gig review: 'Huey Morgan blends fine guitar work with smokey drawls'

Koko, London, Monday 20 January

Alison King
Tuesday 21 January 2014 10:55 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Fun Lovin' Criminals haven't had a hit in the past 15 years with lead singer, Huey Morgan, now spending most of his time working as a BBC broadcaster.

As recent years have shown however, there is nothing quite like the pull of nostalgia and that holds true tonight at their sold out show to faithful fans in Camden.

Tonight the trio mainly succeed in maintaining their brand of mellow groove in their blend of New York rock, funk, hip-hop and even punk. The appeal still lies in selling the New York gangster playacting to the UK who were always far more forgiving than their native crowd. Songs like “King Of New York” about mob boss John Gotti, “The View Belongs To Everyone” and funk-laden 1996 hit, “Scooby Snacks” work well in blending Morgan's fine guitar work and smokey drawls with multi-instrumentalist fellow founding member Brian “Fast” Leiser.

Less successful are when the band steer out of their comfort zone and into dad rock on “10th Street” and the wannabe punk number “Where The Bums Go”.

Working their way through a whopping 20 songs, the band seem to acknowledge that their best days are behind them and tonight's humble nostalgic reveries are hard to dismiss.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in