On The Road With Kings Of Spade

PHOTO CREDIT: Kari Meiers

Bluesy rock band Kings of Spade are coming all the way from their home in Honolulu to play Charlotte's The Milestone Club on October 18th. To get you ready for the show, guitarist Jesse Savio shared some advice, memories, and tales from the road with us.

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
High octane, shameless dancing, rock, blues, soul.

What's the first concert you attended?
George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. My dad was actually working at the concert venue at the time and he had to clean the green room after the show. The place had been trashed, and I'm standing there while my dad is picking up overturned tables and wiping food off the wall. That's when I learned the whole "rockstar trashing the green room" is wicked uncool, because a real person eventually had to clean that shit up

What's the strangest gig you've played?
One time we got asked to play one of our band member's nephew's first birthday party. It was in an elementary school cafeteria and there we were under bright fluorescent lights playing loud rock n roll to all these aunties, uncles, grandparents and cousins quietly sitting around long tables. Everyone seemed to have a good time but it was definitely an odd circumstance.

What's the craziest thing a fan has done at one of your shows?
One time we were playing a show on Maui and a fan asked KC to sign her arm. We came back the next month for another show and that fan showed up with the signature tattooed permanently. lol

What's the first thing you look for when you hit a new town?
KC: a coffee shop
Timmy: a Dunkin Donuts
Matty: a laundromat
Jesse: a nap

How do you spend your days on the road?
We like to find cool places to eat or local bands see when we're in a town for the first time. If it's somewhere we've been already, we usually like to catch up with relatives or old friends we've made in that town.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?
KC will go through vocal warm-ups to get her voice ready while Matty, Timmy, and Jesse usually grab a drink and make sure the merch table is set up and looking good.

What's some advice you'd give to a band embarking on its first tour?
Bring little gifts (token items specifically from where you're from) to give to the show organizers and house sound engineers at each venue you play and make sure to get their contact info. If you leave a good impression you'll improve your opportunities coming back, and the sound engineer will probably dig it and give a really good mix (which basically means everything).

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five acts do you choose and what song do you all perform together for the final jam?
Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Black Keys, and Aretha Franklin. And we all do "The Weight" by The Band.

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