Though I'm not necessarily a blues head, I know that guitarist-singer Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram is a one-in-a-million talent.
Born and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Kingfish has been performing since he was a teenager and has played at the likes of London's Hyde Park and the White House.Preparing for a blues deluge, I headed down to Melbourne's Northcote Theatre on Monday night (21 April). I'd been lucky enough to see Kingfish perform at The Corner Hotel in 2022, but as I arrived it was clear a show at Northcote Theatre would be a whole other experience.
The room was packed even before the support act had started. Harts, an Indian-born, Australia-based guitarist and songwriter, was the chosen support, and he performed his set accompanied by bass and drums.
His '00s indie-rock look was a bit incongruous with the casual style of the other two musicians, but they opened with a strong vamp that suggested they were locked in nevertheless.
While Harts played a little bit of keys, it was clear his true love is the guitar, and this was confirmed when he revealed the one and only Prince had mentored himself early in his career.
Starting out with a catchy track entitled 'Peculiar', Harts then played his tune 'Red & Blue', which had a foot-stomping, anthemic energy. His tune 'Ain't Too Far Gone', however, was much closer to the blues sound of Kingfish, and made it clearer why he had been chosen as the support.
Harts really does know his way around the guitar, and while his solo on this tune wasn't necessarily within the normal blues canon, each phrase was unique and exciting. With a behind-the-head guitar solo and a plethora of rock-god stances, Harts worked the stage like he was performing at a giant stadium show.
For the final few minutes of his set, Harts improvised over a funky groove laid down by the band, dedicating his solo to Prince as he made expert use of the wah-wah pedal. Harts reached extreme shredding point just as the set ended, purple light and smoke washing over the band.
Thirty minutes felt like a difficult amount of time for a band to build up to their best, but Harts did a great job of giving us the tasty guitar we were craving – an appetiser for the main meal.
As Kingfish's stage time grew closer, the crowd really filled up, and it was clear this was a seriously committed audience. As the backing band emerged and kicked off a heavy groove, Kingfish finally emerged to a roar from the crowd.
In a black t-shirt and sporting a gold chain, Kingfish beamed across the audience, starting out the set with his tune 'Midnight Heat', from the 'Live In London' album recorded in 2024. The band's accompanying funk feel was so insanely tight, it should have been illegal.
As soon as Kingfish began to sing, we were given a one-way ticket to the heart of the blues. With his rich, full sound and gorgeous vibrato, Kingfish has a unique voice while still paying homage to the great blues singers. It's clear he's a master of his field, and as he kicked into gear for the first of many blistering guitar solos, the blues simply poured out of him.
Hyping up the audience, Kingfish yelled: "If y'all came for some blues you better let me know!" The band then lent into a more laid-back blues feel for 'Fresh Out', a tune from his 2019 'Kingfish' album (the recorded version features blues legend Buddy Guy). The song laments a lover who has gone away.
As the keys player took over for a solo, Kingfish proved himself as a capable accompanist, providing considered and gentle backing for the pianist before taking over the spotlight once more for a solo out of the song, giving it his all until the very last note.
Christone Kingfish Ingram's keys player at 2025 Bluesfest - image © Bill Prendergast
'Another Life Goes By', from his 2021 album '662', was a bit of a stylistic detour with its pseudo-reggae feel, and then Kingfish performed his beautiful, silvery version of the Michael Burks' blues ballad 'Empty Promises'. With his soulful voice and unparalleled guitar playing, the song melted like butter under Kingfish's care.
'Not Gonna Lie', another song from '662', took us back into the realm of funky blues, and at the end of the tune Kingfish left the stage as we were treated to a groovy vamp breakdown in which each member of the band took an incredible solo.
What we thought was Kingfish taking a break turned out to be him coming from backstage out into the audience, led by torch-wielding stagehands, as he serenaded clusters of the crowd with another one of his effortlessly impressive solos.
After a moment of silence as the vamp ended, Kingfish began the next tune with an unaccompanied guitar intro that flowed into a slow and pensive blues jam entitled 'Mississippi Night', another tune from 'Live In London'. The drummer accompanied this tune beautifully, with great dynamic use of the snare.
As Kingfish made his way back onto the stage, the band kicked into gear with 'Hard Times', a funk tune from his 2019 self-titled album. This song featured a solo battle between Kingfish and his keyboard player, who had picked up a keytar.
They copied each other's phrases and then began to branch out and play snippets from classic pop and hip hop riffs. Duelling back to back, it was a moment of pure silliness that amped up the crowd even more.
Bringing the audience back to earth with a moment of seriousness, however, Kingfish disclosed that his mum had passed away in 2019, and that he had written a song called 'Rock & Roll' as a tribute to her.
This slow ballad talks about her sacrifices that allowed him to 'sell [his] soul to rock & roll". The ensuing solo clearly came from a place of true pain, as Kingfish wailed through his guitar.
Christone Kingfish Ingram at 2025 Bluesfest - image © Bill Prendergast
After this tune, Kingfish was clearly thinking about home and, as the band played the iconic James Brown 'Funky Good Time' vamp, he asked the crowd "can I take you to my hometown?".
The cheers in response were highly energetic, and the musicians effortlessly shifted gear into the rollicking tune 'Outside Of This Town', which is the opening track on Kingfish's first album. This song included an epic breakdown that allowed Kingfish to truly unmask his shredding chops, as he weaved from quiet to loud, considered to wild.
As spotlights circled the room, Kingfish kicked off the final tune of the set, the perfect road-trip track '662', a song that describes what it's like living in the Mississippi Delta. After an exciting outro section, the band came to a halt and Kingfish left the stage to a sea of applause, whistles and shouts.
The clapping soon turned into enthusiastic foot-stomping, which, after about three minutes, still hadn’t ceased. After what felt like an eternity, the keyboard player came out and performed a strange but tasty medley of tunes including 'Eleanor Rigby' and Dr. Dre's 'The Next Episode'.
While this was enjoyable, it was clear the audience weren't yet satiated, and finally, a sense of peace was restored as the rest of the band returned with Kingfish out front. The blues-rock tune 'Long Distance Woman' from '662' was the final choice for the show, and provided the blues obsessives with a parting taste of their favourite genre.
Christone Kingfish Ingram's bass player at 2025 Bluesfest - image © Bill Prendergast
Before leaving the stage, Kingfish threw a small fortune's worth of personalised guitar picks into the audience and some signed pieces of paper. He told us it was his last show in Australia and thanked God for allowing the tour to be successful.
After another, final, ripping guitar solo, Kingfish teased us with a few lyrics from Jimi Hendrix's 'Hey Joe', and then left us to groove out with his band. The crowd was gripped right up to the very last second, when the keyboard player slowly turned his levels down until we were greeted with the house music.
Kingfish is a wonder – the musicality, the feel, the soul that emanates from his voice and guitar. He loves to show off, but he also knows how to take moments of quietness, and to use dynamics as a musical tool. This makes his guitar playing simply hypnotic.
Since I last saw him he had acquired the keyboard player to fill out his sound, and this allowed the entire band to lay down groove after groove without pause, effortlessly transitioning between styles.
I don't know what more I can say, except that if you have any appreciation for the blues, get yourself to a Kingfish show as soon as possible. He's the real deal.
