I felt a pang of sadness as I entered the Corner Hotel to see two of the greatest exponents of modern garage rock, King Khan & BBQ: there was hardly any fucker there. OK, it was quite early in the night, but even though it did fill up, the dividing curtain stayed out, essentially reducing the capacity by a third.
Primary support came from four Geelong guys in their early-20s that go by the name The Living Eyes. They rose above the so-so attendance to deliver a stirring 35 minutes of mid-to-high tempo garage/surf rock. Having released their sophomore album Living Large earlier this year,the band’s set had the contagious excitement that comes from a band rapt to be playing new songs. When The Living Eyes rocked into Put It Back, I spied two separate instances of friends sharing knowing smiles – you know that tacit “Right on.”
For The King Khan & BBQ Show, the stage was bathed in muted blues and purples, making it seem like the inside of a lava lamp; an appropriate tone for their schlocky 1960s aesthetic. When the two go-go dancers – one blonde and one brunette, dressed in the mode of I Dream of Genie –appeared on either side of the stage to dance to the intro music, Queen’s Under Pressure, the vibe was perfect.
After the intro shenanigans were over, the duo from Quebec (Khan on guitar and BBQ/Mark Sultan on drums) kicked into the visceral Fist Fight from their 2004 self-tilted debut. The first song to really get the audience bopping was Zombies.
Another musical highlight was the rollicking Tastebuds (which features theline, “Tastebuds on my cock.”) But the stand out was the BBQ sung I’ll Be Loving You from 2009’s Invisible Girl. As BBQ intoned the song’s title over Khan’s lose and jangly riffage, the mood of the entire room was lifted.
Loved: I’ll Be Loving You.
Hated: The piss poor turn out.
Drank: Liquid.
BY DAN WATT
Photo By Ian Laidlaw
