The King Khan & BBQ Show / The Leather Uppers

Yowsa! Nudity, groping, broken glass, property damage, rampant drunkenness, rock'n'roll. Expectations were high for the return of the King Khan & BBQ Show, whose fans nearly trashed Casa del Popolo last December, and no one left this show disappointed, except maybe the girl who got the mop in the face. Cape-clad TO duo the Leather Uppers preceded the headliners, dealing out hot-potato rock'n'roll songs and rapid-fire lines like "Did someone say keep on rockin'? I think it was me!" With great gravity and furious goofiness, respectively, guitarist Classy Craig and drummer Groovy Greg nailed a sound and level of showmanship that proved they were right to reunite after a decade's absence. Stationed at stage right amid King Khan & BBQ's old friends — and fans of the duo's old band, the Spaceshits — I was safe from the reported front-row manhandling but wound up knee-deep in the juvenile antics of a small crew of 30-something delinquents. Meanwhile, on stage the boys brilliantly spanned the rock'n'roll spectrum from sweet'n'groovy to messed up punk to epic Chuck Berry acid flashbacks. Both men sang and played guitars, with BBQ letting out his inner black man and doing fancy footwork on the drums (he also performs as a one-man band) and King Khan monopolising the spotlight with his duck walking, WW1 kraut helmet and skin-tight sari (he also fronts a psychedelic soul band in Germany). When the King had enough of his friends' stage-invading, random-junk-throwing, sari-pulling and mop attacks, he smashed half a dozen bottles in our corner and continued to quench his thirst for destruction by busting ceiling panels with his guitar. The damage was swiftly paid for and everyone went home hot and happy, maybe even that girl with a mouthful of mop.