KIX, heavy metal band from Hagerstown MD, who recently celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of their certified Platinum Album Blow My Fuse performed a sold out show at the State Theatre in Falls Church Virginia on Saturday January 11, 2020, with “JAMMBOXX” and “The Roadducks” opening the show.
KIX has had a great following in the Washington D /Baltimore area since their self-titled Debut album in 1981 “KIX” performing at the legendary nightclub in Baltimore called HammerJack’s which showcased many up and coming bands.
KIX put on a two-hour show, digging deep into their music catalog to perform their hit songs as well as local favorites that they have not performed live in years.
Musically the band sounded incredible. The energy they put into playing the songs was amazing, especially Steve Whiteman. Steve Whiteman moved around the stage the entire show with such energy, it was hard to focus on Steve to take photographs at times.
Songs they performed included Kix Are for Kids, The Kid, The Itch, Yeah Yeah Yeah from the debut album KIX; For Shame from Cool Kids, Cold Shower, Sex from Midnight Dynamite; No Ring Around Rosie, Don’t Close Your Eyes, Cold Blooded, and Blow My Fuse.
The one thing that I was disappointed with, and it seems to be the normal for most concerts. The soundboard is mixed to put the focus on the instruments and the vocals take second stage. For most of the songs, even though the instruments took front row, the vocals were understandable. There are two songs that the vocal were so drowned out by the instruments it took the fun out of the songs, because the lyrics are what make these songs great. They are The Itch and Yeah Yeah Yeah.
I saw KIX the end of 2018 when they were touring to support the thirtieth anniversary of Blow My Fuse where they played the entire album as well as other hit songs. Both shows were great, with my favorite of the two being this show. I have been a fan of KIX since a friend of mine introduced me to their debut album.
To open the show. JAMMBOXX from Springfield, VA played a great set of great covers of rock ‘n’ roll classics. Being a local band, the reception the band received from the audience was impressive. The floor filled up faster than it generally does for some opening bands and the audience had a great time listening to their covers of such songs as Ozzy Osbournes “Crazy Train”, and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”.
Following JAMMBOXX was the band “The Roadducks” which I have known about for years but had not seen live in concert. I was a frequent patron of Northern Virginia’s version of HammerJack’s, JAXX in Springfield, VA. “The Roadducks” were regular performers at JAXX. As with HammerJack’s, JAXX is long gone, but for “The Roadducks” Show, it was sort of a JAXX reunion, with various employees of JAXX in attendance of this show, including the Soundboard mixer from JAXX who managed the sound of “The Roadducks” shows at JAXX running the sound for “The Roadducks”. Founding Member Jay Nerdy (Drums) is celebrating forty-three years with “The Roadducks.
This was a great show from beginning to end.
I give this show B+
About The Author
