Whether they were to be called King Khan and the Shrines, King Khan and (His) Sensational Shrines or The Supreme Genius of King Khan and His Sensational Shrines, on this night all of those amazing names were fitting. From the moment the Berlin-based eight-piece band, led by longtime Montreal punk scenester King Khan, hit the Rickshaw Theatre it was abundantly apparent that they were ready to bring the rock, funk, soul and, mostly, the screams. Oh yes, the screams. Khan channeled his best Ian Svenonius (the Make-Up, Nation of Ulysses) throughout the band's entire set, howling and yowling like an animal in heat as the Shrines whipped the crowd into a sweat-drenched frenzy. This was the kind of show where every single person in the place was dancing, and it seemed that Khan wouldn't accept anything less.
Launching into a particularly swinging version of "I Wanna Be A Girl," members of the band took turns jumping into the crowd to surf around while Khan re-entered in a cape and not much else. The band picked pretty equally from their rather sizeable discography, only choosing a couple of tracks from this year's Idle No More. Other highlights from the set included rousing versions of "Shivers Down My Spine" and "Took My Lady to Dinner," both of which ended in a blur of horns, drums, keys and guitar. Khan, who only recently started his North American tour, seemed especially pleased with the Vancouver crowd, grinning and thanking us repeatedly through the night. The only real complaint is that King Khan and the Shrines were done before we knew it, coming back out for a short two-song encore and leaving many in attendance aching for more.
Launching into a particularly swinging version of "I Wanna Be A Girl," members of the band took turns jumping into the crowd to surf around while Khan re-entered in a cape and not much else. The band picked pretty equally from their rather sizeable discography, only choosing a couple of tracks from this year's Idle No More. Other highlights from the set included rousing versions of "Shivers Down My Spine" and "Took My Lady to Dinner," both of which ended in a blur of horns, drums, keys and guitar. Khan, who only recently started his North American tour, seemed especially pleased with the Vancouver crowd, grinning and thanking us repeatedly through the night. The only real complaint is that King Khan and the Shrines were done before we knew it, coming back out for a short two-song encore and leaving many in attendance aching for more.
