King Khan & BBQ Show

You may have heard stories about King Khan: that he runs around onstage in a Speedo and a cape, that he's got the craziest/most profound stage patter since Rahsaan Roland Kirk strode the earth, that he peed on the Black Lips' merch table once, that he commandeered a park vehicle during this year's Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago and rode about the grounds like some kind of maniacal uber-pope. Well, yeah, the dude's a showman, all right. But do yourself a favor and come back to this blurb after you've procured audio copies of "Shivers Down My Spine" (from 2001's Three Hairs and You're Mine), "Shattered" (from 2004's Mr. Supernatural), and "I See Lights" (from last year's What Is?!). Got 'em? Good—now you can really get at his appeal. Working with just about every sound that was cool in rock and soul between 1950 and 1970, he's created a berserk garage/psych/funk monstrosity that bombs trad-punk back to the Stone Age, "made even wilder with the partnership of longtime collaborator and former Spaceshits bandmate Mark "BBQ" Sultan. Getting to see and hear it in all its wild-eyed, supersonic, nitro-burning voodoo-priest raw power is mandatory for anyone who's ever wished there were more bands that channeled James Brown and the Stooges simultaneously. 21+.
Sat., Nov. 1, 9 p.m., 2008