Kingdom Come Still Getting It On At Buffalo Iron Works

Concert Review
Kingdom Come
Wednesday September 18, 2024
Buffalo Iron Works
Buffalo, NY
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto

Most people who attended the Monsters of Rock Festival back in 1988 out at then Rich Stadium would surely remember Kingdom Come. They were the first band to hit the stage that hot summer day. The hoses were going full force trying to cool down the crowd and the lineup really was a who’s who in rock at the time. The band were followed that afternoon by Metallica and Dokken before the Scorpions and headliner Van Halen proceeded to put the exclamation point on the event. The most perplexing thing was the placement of Metallica on the bill but that is a story for another day.

Wednesday night Kingdom Come returned to town with a new look lineup in more ways than one. The current version is a five piece but due to an injury suffered to guitarist Danny Stag they played as a four man unit. The carry overs from that day out at the stadium include guitarist Rick Steier, Stag and bassist Johnny B. (JB) Frank. Joining them were drummer Matt Muckle a veteran who has played with many artists and vocalist Ezekiel Kaplan. Despite not playing many shows since this version of the band formed earlier this year, these guys put on a fabulous 65-minute set that featured songs from the first two Kingdom Come albums as well as the debut of two brand new songs.

Hitting the crowd with the energetic “Do You Like It” from In Your Face, the band’s second album and was promptly followed by a pair of cuts from the debut in “Living Out Of Touch” and Pushin’ Hard”. A fantastic way to grab the attention of the small but knowledgeable crowd. The ones that came clearly were familiar with the catalog and were happy to get to see the band. The highlight of the night for this reviewer was seeing the performance of ballad “What Love Can Be”. That along with “Loving You” (which they sadly did not play) are two of the band’s greatest songs. Kaplan did a solid job especially considering he is no Lenny Wolf sound-a-like. He has his own style and it fits just fine.

The bottom line on this show was despite not having the full lineup and the fact that they haven’t played many shows as a unit, they managed to pull off a pretty good overall set that went over well with those in attendance. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Should these guys make it to your neck of the woods give em a chance. It’s not like there is anyone else out there playing sixty-plus minutes of Kingdom Come music.

Opening the show were Hywater, a band from Niagara Falls, NY featuring Thomas Tedesco, Connor Best, Dylan Howard and Ian Howard.