Blue Boar, Poole


On a very damp Saturday evening in March the Kingland Cresent – based local record Store the Boiler Room have brought Hastings Band Kid Kapichi to the Blue Boar basement in Poole, for a stripped-down acoustic gig and album signing as part of an intimate tour to promote their third album “There Goes the Neighbourhood” – an album that is described “as snapshot of a forgotten people scratching through the mire of a post-Brexit landscape”. All the tickets for this special event have been sold in advance and the enthusiastic 70 strong crowd pack out the venue for what is to be an unmissable event.

The band who feature Jack Wilson (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Ben Beetham (Guitar/Vocals), Eddie Lewis (Bass) and George Macdonald (Drums) have opted tonight for acoustic guitars, along with electric bass and a stripped back drum kit. Kicking off appropriately with “Artillery” the opening number of the new album, they show their earlier soundcheck had been beneficial as the sound in this old cellar has been absolutely nailed. Each instrument can be heard clearly with Jack’s pivotal vocals sitting prominently over all the instrumentation.

The new album displays the continuation of frustrations of British life with their trademark political approach still at the centre. Their Punk Rock attitude is littered with quintessential British influences, while maintaining their own unique methodology and personalities. The ultra catchy “Let’s Go to Work”, hard hitting “999” and the band’s latest single “Zombie Nation” showing off all of the quartet’s ardour. Jack tells us what a pleasure it was to work with one of his heroes “Suggs” of Madness when recording the song and filming the Zombie themed video. There are plenty of excited reactions from the crowd, who all know that tonight they are witnessing something quite unrepeatable here.

Kid Kapichi
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For those around the age of 30 “Tamagotchi” is an anthem that focuses them on the direction of a certain point in time. The cleverly derived set of lyrics feature a host of memories that only those who have witnessed will understand properly. The lyrics feature many wonderous twists and turns giving one of the standout tracks off the record. The band are in great form and tell us that they have had to unlearn the full electric versions of these tracks for this short tour, only to re-learn again for the full UK/European tour which starts in Brighton at the end of this month.

“Jimi”, a track about the death of a close friend brings the mood down a little and is also dedicated to anyone like him who we have lost too soon. Things soon bounce back with the Brexit anthem “Can EU Hear Me”, with Jack showing off some of the French phrases that he learned at school. The band round off with the Fri/Sat night living for the weekend tune “Get Down”. Of course they have more in the tank and for an encore the audience are given a choice of two tracks, opting for “Smash The Gaff”. The band dutifully oblige with a great version before thanking the audience for coming along. As a record store show, the band have also kindly agreed to stay around to sign any of the purchased copies of the new album.

The rise of this homegrown band is refreshing, they are now on their third album having ticked off so many goals already. They have performed at Wembley Arena, Royal Albert Hall along with European/US Tours; with performances at many major festivals including Download, Great Escape, Reading & Leeds, Glastonbury and many others. As proper music fans themselves they know what their fans want and treat all with much humble respect. If any one band deserves success it’s Kid Kapichi; they have worked hard, made some great decisions and have created some relevant relatable music. 2024 could well be a pivotal year for the band and it’s going to be interesting to see how they fare.

Set List
Artillery
Let’s Go to Work
999
Party at Number 10
Zombie Nation
Tamagotchi
Jimi
Can EU Hear Me?
Get Down
Smash The Gaff

Videos



Links
https://www.kidkapichi.com
https://www.facebook.com/KidKapichi

Words & Media by David Chinery
Photography by Jon Musselwhite

Kid Kapichi