In an industry where popular rock bands consist of upwards of nine people, and stare mostly at their frets or the feet (if you can see through their masks, anyway), it’s refreshing to find a band like King’s X.

The veteran rockers took to the stage in a calm and professional manner on September 4th at the Theater on the Ridge in Rochester, NY. Why this venue isn’t used more often for concerts, I don’t know. The sound quality of the performance was top notch, and Jerry Gaskill, Doug Pinnick, and Ty Tabor proved to be deserving of such. While most bands feature guitar as the predominant instrument and let the bass wallow in the low-end mud, these three proved to be understanding that such is not necessarily the way rock should be. Granted, Tabor’s solos were worthy of notice (although the lighting techs disagreed; they had a hard time putting the spotlight on the right people), but Pinnick’s bass lines were something that your jazz lovin’ Grandma could groove to, while your tattooed teenager could rock out to at the same time. And yes, even the hair-metal lovers would’ve liked the solos.

The set itself had two points that stood out to the author. First was the song Static, played close to the end of the set. While it sounded good from where the audience sat, Doug told me later that he felt it hadn’t gone as well as planned, and that his timing was off. All timing aside, the song combined slow, heavy bass lines with soulful lyrics that turned very hard rock towards the song’s end. Another unusual part of the King’s X performance is that when Doug sings, you can actually see emotion; something you don’t often get with a rock band these days.

The other highlight was the overall connection between the musicians. During songs, the band could stop, start, stop, start, and continue with the pattern for a good length of time without and clicks from Gaskill’s drum sticks. Every single time, the entrances were perfectly together, displaying again what decades of experience can do for three talented musicians.

But enough about the details, I’ll get to the point. King’s X are veteran rockers who actually play and act like veteran rockers. They’re something that any rock fan could like, whether they’re at Burger King getting the Big Kid’s Meal or the Senior Citizens Discount.