大象传媒

How mad is this? The band is barely a year old, they've not put out a record and they've only played Belfast a few times. But there's already a fierce connection between the Panama Kings and their subjects. Happy voices in the crowd are picking up the chorus lines and letting them tumble through the night. Dozens of cameras are popping and there are audible gasps as the rhythms change and the intensity rises.

Maybe there's an extra expectation at this time of year. We're looking for hope and deliverance, so you might argue that the Kings' reputation is overcooked. But honestly, we're trying to filter that into the experience. And still we're in raptures.

Panama Kings are essentially a rock combo with Cuban heel boots, untamed hair and guitars that roar. But there's a complexity in the music that's sometimes psychedelic, sometimes even techno. The songs are full of detail and the electro-romp of 'I Don't Want To Die' is especially fine. As we've said before, singer Niall sounds anxious and perturbed, like he's part of some cruel experiment.

On the Strokes-like 'Golden Recruit', he bawls, "We can't be trusted to lead the crusade". Or was that "can be trusted"? Either way, you get the feeling that they won't easily be signed to a bogus campaign. They give off a proper feeling of savvy and solidarity. You believe them, essentially.

By the end, people are so into the plan that there's not even any need to introduce the tunes and so 'Your Children Are Screaming' arrives without ceremony. The guitars lines bite, Niall shudders and sounds disgusted, turning his emotions into a defiant outpouring. Good work, the Kings.

Stuart Bailie
Photos by Stuart Bailie