The Marcus King Band played a special concert at the Ogden Theatre in Denver, CO on Saturday night that served as a farewell to saxophonist Dean Mitchell, who recently announced he is leaving the group. Additionally, the concert was a bon voyage to Marcus King and company as the band takes the El Dorado Tour overseas to Europe.
The gravity and energy of the show was apparent to the band before even taking the stage, as Marcus King announced during the soundcheck that the band would be recording the night’s performance. Additionally, in a recent interview on Chris Shifflett‘s podcast, Walking The Floor, King expressed interest in releasing a live album. The band perhaps took this one last opportunity to record a show with Mitchell for the history books, and as a proper testament to both Mitchell’s legacy and the forward momentum of the group, the evening featured a healthy mix of King’s solo work and MKB favorites.
The show kicked off with “Turn It Up”, from King’s El Dorado record before switching back to the MKB catalog with “Where I’m Headed” from 2018’s Carolina Confessions, followed by “How Long” from the same album. King then slowed things down with the tender “Beautiful Stranger” from his solo album. One of the highlights of the show came a few songs later when King kicked off a medley of songs that began with “Side Door”, then segued into “Sweet Mariona”, and finally into “Wildflowers & Wine”. The capability of the entire band to flow seamlessly between King’s solo catalog and his repertoire with the rest of the group inspires great hope for a bright future between the ensemble.
After another smattering of songs from between the two projects, including “Virginia”, “Love Song”, “Self Hatred”, “Break”, and “Homesick”, the band launched into the next musical highlight of the night. This feat was another continuing chain of segues whose seamlessness rivaled some of the toughest jam band competition. Beginning with “Always”, the band transitioned into “Jesus Children”, into a drum solo, and finally into “Confessions”. The band closed out the set with another chain, this one with a couple less links, as they strung together “Plant Your Corn” and “Goodbye Carolina”, with some band introductions in the middle.
The group returned to for an encore of “Too Much Whiskey”, followed by “The Well” which flowed straight into a pounding cover of “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath to end the evening.
The Marcus King Band now heads across the pond for a gig at The Wardrobe in Leeds, U.K. that will kick off the band’s 15 date run through the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. For tickets and a full list of dates, head to the band’s website.
Scroll down to check out a gallery of photos from the concert, courtesy of Zach Belfer.
Setlist: The Marcus King Band | Ogden Theatre | Denver, CO | 2/15/20
Set: Turn It Up, Where I’m Headed, How Long, Beautiful Stranger, One Day She’s Here, Make Love, Side Door > Sweet Mariona > Wildflowers & Wine, Virginia, Love Song, Self Hatred, Break, Homesick, Always > Jesus Children > Drums > Confessions, Plant Your Corn > Goodbye Carolina
Encore: Too Much Whiskey, The Well > War Pigs (Black Sabbath)
