It’s been a while since I’ve been to a proper loud and sweaty gig – that, combined with what I’d been hearing about Kingdom had me really looking forward to their band launch at Mercury for a good while. And after the fact I can say the hype is well deserved, Kingdom put on a great show  and Stoker and Feverstone were the perfect accompaniments.

I’m actually mildly embarrassed at how long it’d been since I’d visited Mercury – the whole place looks different now, glass bricks, wallpaper, couches, stripper poles…it’s still the same though, I came to realise as it filled up with all the usuals, which is comforting.

Feverstone kicked things off loud and energetic, setting the pace for the rest of the night. I’d seen them just once before (doing an acoustic set at &Union) and enjoyed them both times, though I definitely preferred Saturday’s full-throttle version.

Up next were Stoker, who kept the energy high and the volume loud and brought in more hardness with their sound.

The night belonged to Kingdom though – from their elaborate setup (well, elaborate is perhaps the wrong word, but it did take them quite a while to drape white fabric over all the walls) to their frantic energy they forced me to stand up and listen – literally, I’d found a really comfortable spot sitting on the front side of the stage which I was quite sure I wouldn’t abandon as I went on to do.

To be honest I’d be hard-pressed to describe the music besides being fast, infectious and loud, because I was so caught up in the visual aspect of their performance. Is that necessarily a bad thing though? I don’t think so. I had a great time and it was clear the rest of the crowd did too.

The kicker was the grand finale when Feverstone’s Kieron Brown and Stoker’s Chris Bornman as well as two pole dancers (who assembled and cleaned their own pole too, most impressive) joined the madness on stage for Poor Little Rich Girl. It was a stroke of genius including the dancers – they did a really great routine and were a big hit with the crowd.

There was no question of an encore, though there were some shouted demands for one, and the Robfather closed the night off with his signature style and class…

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