On June 4, 2024, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, a blues guitarist from Mississippi, played at the Toronto Opera House, a perfect regal palace for Beale St. royalty, for Canadian Music Week (CMW) 2024.
I was waiting in a line that stretched far around the block under an overcast sky for the sold out show-, wondering why someone taught a fish to play guitar and how he became king.
Spencer Mackenzie, a JUNO-nominated blues artist from Southern Ontario, opened the show with a country leaning blues performance that utilized feedback to satisfy alternative enjoying boneheads such as myself.
Mackenzie’s solo heavy performance heavily relied on his guitar technique while the keyboardist added a distinctly soulful atmosphere-, effortless switching timbres from church organ to a natural piano to round out the tone of the particular song.
The drummer simply did what they needed to do. The intuitive bass lines were largely drowned out and overshadowed by the gargantuan force of the guitar and keyboard working together, the latter of which stole the show.
When Mackenzie’s time was up, Kingfish’s bandmates took the stage under a dense fog transitioning gently from Mackenzie’s upbeat playstyle to a groovy opening number. This aura shattered moments after Kingfish appeared through the fog and broke out into a funk inspired riff.
Kingfish constantly demonstrates this ability to naturally shift dynamics and genre with ease, bringing the tempo down as he jams through backup noise until the perfect note to breach the tension.
This reels those oldheads who fell asleep back in, and makes the asshole in front of me- who actually recorded for 10 minutes straight, feel accomplished that he caught that in a video he’s already forgotten about.
While his band, a drummer and bassist from Mississippi and guest keyboardist from Chicago were laying down the essence of the track, Kingfish used every bar of each song to show his superb technical skill.
He could play a lighting fast ladder of muted notes exploding back into a chorus refrain, crossing his picking hand over his fret hand and hammering both on the fretboard, playing without looking, and performing musical flourishes that make you think “if a fish can do that, what the hell am I doing wrong.”
Near the end of the set, Kingfish left the stage (presumably to rehydrate so he doesn’t suffocate) and left the spotlight to his band, giving time for separate bass, drum and keyboard solos before reappearing from the front of the venue to play in the middle of the crowd.
Kingfish played illuminated under flashlights, shined by security guards and about 30 other assholes filming (yes, I was one of the assholes this time). Another testament to his pure skill, and because as understood from The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004), fish dry out under intense heat-, but, like a true professional, Kingfish soldiers on.
For his final seconds on stage, Kingfish brought out guest guitarist Grace Bowers, an up-and-coming blues prodigy from California currently based in Nashville, TN. The two showed Canada that music other than The Tragically Hip exists and with practice, even fish can make it into Rolling Stone.
Lucas Bustinski for The B-Side.
