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South Carolina native Marcus King rocked the house at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, CT, on Tuesday, June 4. 

The 28-year-old performer is both a solo musician and the lead singer, guitarist, and founder of The Marcus King Band. He studied jazz theory and jazz performance at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, SC. His music crosses lines and blends rock, blues, jazz, country, and Americana to create a sound that is distinctly Marcus King.

At College Street Music Hall, he was touring in support of his 2024 album Mood Swings, which was a more soulful release from the musician who is known for his loud, extensive guitar solos. 

Cecilia Castleman, a Tennessee native, opened the show for him with just her guitar and her looper pedal. She played for just shy of a half an hour and did a good job engaging the audience with her soft, melodic, Megan Moroney-esque voice. 

 Marcus Takes the Stage 

Marcus and his band came on stage right at nine o’clock to the theme of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. After a grandiose entrance, he performed “Beautiful Stranger” off of his hit 2020 country/rock album El Dorado. He followed up with “It’s Too Late” from his 2022 indie/alternative rock album Young Blood, and “The Well” from El Dorado. 

From there, he jumped into “Hero” off of his new album Mood Swings, and followed it up with “Inglewood Motel (Halestorm).” He then performed “Me or Tennessee” off of his most recent release, then did a throwback with “8 A.M.” which is a The Marcus King Band song from 2018. 

He paused from his own setlist to perform a cover of “Honky Tonk Hell,” by his good buddy Gabe Lee. Afterwards, he got back on track with “Save Me,” “F*ck My Life Up Again,” and “Bipolar Love,” all from his latest release.

Then, he slowed it down and performed a cover of Tyler Childers’ “Shake the Frost,” which he dedicated to his wife and also immediately brought me to tears with. 

From there, he went into “Lie Lie Lie,” from Young Blood and “Goodbye Carolina” from The Marcus King Band.

He used this chance to take a breather, introduce the rest of his band and give them their time to shine. The instrumental solos lasted between five and eight minutes total and gave everyone the chance to show off to the audience. 

At this point, we knew we were nearing the end of the show so we knew he only had a handful of songs left to perform. He went into “Tranquility,” which he has only performed a handful of times, followed by “Wildflowers & Wine,” a slower, soulful ballad from his latest release. 

Next, he performed “Hoss” and a cover of Brenda Lee’s “You Were Always On My Mind.” 

He finished out the show with “Delilah” from Mood Swings, and brought down the house with a rockin’ cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” 

Listen to the setlist from Marcus King’s show at this link.