When the latest
King Khan & BBQ Show record \”Bad News Boys\” was released back in March, anyone familiar with the Canadian via Berlin duo, jumped for joy. Not only because
Bad News Boys is a great album but also because it had been six years since the underground legends had put out a combined effort as The King Khan & BBQ Show and hopefully a tour would ensue as well. Fast forward to early fall and imagine my elation when it was announced that in fact, The King Khan & BBQ Show would hitting the road in November.
Obviously, when a band releases a new record it\’s only natural that they tour in support of it. Well, that’s where things get a bit grey.
Khan & Sultanhave been friends for the better part of twenty years and with any good friendship comes some amount of drama. like I said before it had been roughly six years since Khan & BBQ had officially broken up or released anything. Khan & BBQ did tour last fall before their new release but hey, they broke up before so like I said, I was happier as a pig in shit when they had a Chicago date on the docket and they were bringing another Canadian band with them called
Milk Lines.
While standing in line to enter the show I chatted up with several people that assured me that Milk Lines were awesome. From one attendee I got the low down that Milk Lines was fronted by Jeff Clarke of Demon\’s Claws . When I admitted that I hadn\’t heard of them or Milk Lines before, I got the obligatory \”are you fucking stupid? \” look. Either way, I\’ve seen enough bands to be able to decipher what is good and what is shit and at this point, I went in with open ears and an open mind and didn’t have any expectations.
To everyone that gave the 411 on Milk Lines, you were right, they were awesome! Their sound is a bit difficult for me to describe. It felt somewhat like a mixture of jangly pop, folk country and punk. unfortunately, my description doesn’t do it the justice that it deserves.
Milk Lines didn’t let a few open spaces on the floor deter them from seizing the moment and playing a great set. Those in attendance were pulled in by singer, Emily Frances\’ powerful vocals. **To the Bucktown elitists that always do their best to be fashionably late, you fucked up**
Within the roughly 20 minutes between the end of Milk Lines set and King Khan & BBQ Show sound checking the main floor of Subterranean had become as tightly packed as a sardine can or to quote my grandfather, \”It was so crowded, all you saw were elbows and assholes!\”
When Khan & Sultan hit the stage, the audience was fairly lathered up. Was that from the cheap beer or the fact that they were about witness a magical sight from a legendary duo in the underground music scene. Me thinks a bit of both! Nevertheless, King Khan strutted onto the small stage with his trusty gold flake Fender Telecaster while sporting a shit eating grin to go with his standard BDSM leather chest harness, cape & short shorts. BBQ on the other hand was much more conservatively dressed. Decked out in gold lamay briefs worn over black body suit with the nipples cut out. It was a truly a sight to behold.
The set list that the Chicago faithful were treated to was a venerable collection of the King Khan & BBQ Show\’s greatest hits. Khan & BBQ gave equal attention to each of their four releases throughout their hour and a half performance. King Khan pandered to the crowd with his best Chuck Berry skips along with some very powerful pelvic thrusts as he tickled the frets of that trusty Fender.
BBQ demonstrated his prowess as a musician, by not only manning a guitar but managing to play a foot controlled bass and snare drum all in tandem. Oh, I almost forgot… while doing all of that, he still finds the mental capacity to sing too!
During their performance Khan & BBQ didn’t spend much time with idle chat but rather give the fans what they wanted, \”The Music.\” On one of the few times that King Khan did chat up the audience it was to dedicate the song \”Tastebuds\” (which khan claims is the dirtiest song that they’ve ever written) to someone in the audience named Cynthia Plaster Caster. Does that name ring a bell? (look it up!)
All in all, The King Khan & BBQ Show was exactly that…. A Show, one to be remembered!
-Cooper
Set List What more could I want?
- Instrumental Intro
- Fish Fight
- Zombies
- Waddling Around
- Treat Me Like a Dog
- Invisible girl
- Tastebuds
- Hold Me Tight
- Too Much In Love
- Illuminations
- Alone Again
- Lil\’ Girl In The Woods
- Got It Made
- Take Me Back
- Kiss My Sister’s Fist
- Why Don\’t You Lie
- Shake
- [lg_slideshow folder=\”2015/King Khan and BBQ Show with Milk Lines in Chicago /King Khan and BBQ Show /\”][lg_slideshow folder=\”2015/King Khan and BBQ Show with Milk Lines in Chicago /Milk Lines/\”]
