King Khan and the Shrines, Mark Sultan & France Has the Bomb @ Triple Rock Social Club

Lumbering into the Triple Rock Saturday night half drunk and exhausted from a jam packed day at Art-A-Whirl, I was a little worried I wasn’t going to make it through to see a set by a band I have been waiting a few years to see, King Khan and the Shrines. Luckily I was jolted to attention by a enormously entertaining set by one of the best live bands playing right now.

The Shrines sauntered on stage shortly after midnight to a completely packed Triple Rock crowd that was well lubricated and ready for a party. The eight piece band, featuring drums, percussion, horns, two guitars and bass, wasted no time before they tore into their tight sounding garage rock. After the initial opening musical introduction, a la P-funk, the man of the hour made his grand entrance to an especially rapturous response. King Khan, the larger than life front man and undisputed leader of the group, came on stage and the band instantly tore into a blistering version of “Land of the Freak.” Khan, who had his usual headdress, cape and walking stick, proved instantly why he is so well regarded as a showman. As he would throughout the show, Khan was a maniacal showman who enraptured the crowd for the entire 70 minute set. Generally when a band features a mercurial front man, I have found that the backing band tends to take a back seat and play more of a side role, but the Shrines are not one of those bands. The band’s members were jumping all over the stage and seemed intent on keeping pace with their wild leader as they charged through their garage rock meets soul and R&B songs. They also had help on the energy front by the full time cheerleader the band employs, which is kind of funny. Of all the bands on the planet that could possibly need a cheerleader to keep the excitement up, King Khan and the Shrines would rank near or at the bottom of this list. Early set highlights included boisterous takes on “I Wanna Be a Girl” and “Welfare Bread,” both of which set the crowd into a frenzy. Mark Sultan, who opened the show, came out midway through the set to play a number with the band. Sultan, who has toured and released material with Khan under the King Khan and the BBQ show banner, sang a feverish soul number from the duo’s collection that showed off his amazing vocal capabilities. Late set highlights included a rousing version of “Outta Harm’s Way” that showed the great mixing of the funky horns and stinging guitar lines that make the Shrines so great.

When the band left the stage after their main set, percussionist Ron Streeter (who has played with such groups as Curtis Mayfield, Ike and Tine Turner, Bo Diddly and Stevie Wonder) instantly changed his demeanor from the stoic nature he had all set and amusingly became a hype man trying to egg the crowd on to cheer louder. When Khan came back out for the four song encore, he still had his cape, but the shirt he was wearing when he left the stage was no longer on his back. He also was sporting a helmet that looked like someone had tried to make a Roman soldier’s helmet out of a bucket. Needless to say it was amusing, and to his credit he wore it for the entire encore. The encore was highlighted by the hilarious love song “Took My Lady to Dinner” and the great “Live Fast Die Strong.”

I went into the show with sky high expectations and King Khan and the Shrines completely eviscerated them. The band was tight sounding at all the right moments but loose enough to show that they were having a good time. The Shrines, and especially Khan himself, were the epitome of what makes music so great. The packed crowd was sweaty and dancing, the music was funky but still had a sense of humor (plus some blatant sex appeal) and it really felt like a show, and frankly it was one of the best of the year I have seen so far.

The two bands opening the show were both from the same neo garage rock camp as the headliners and served as great starting points for the show. First up were Minneapolis based France Has the Bomb. The four piece group had a noisier sound than the other two bands of the night and showed throughout their set why they are getting a lot of attention in the local scene.

Next up was the previously mentioned Mark Sultan. Sultan, with a set up that made him look like a one man band, was joined by two of the Shrines who assisted him on guitar and bass. In addition to his amazingly soulful singing, Sultan also played some slashing rhythm guitar and had a rig set up that allowed him to play bass drum, snare drum and tambourine with just his two bare feet. Where France has the Bomb were noisier and more abrasive, Sultan mixed garage rock with some lo-fi punk roots and his trademark soulful vocals. I will admit I was very happy it was the Shrines-backed version of King Khan that were playing Saturday night, but it was great that Khan brought along his old friend for what proved to be a great opening set.

[Review by Josh Keller, photos by Jon Behm.]