• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Tuesday, November 26, 1996

CONCERT:

Kula Shaker live up to all the hype in premiere L.A. gigBy Mike Prevatt

Daily Bruin Contributor

There was definitely a massive buzz felt at Kula Shaker's L.A. debut at the Whisky on Friday night.

Fans were lined up outside for more than 2 1/2 hours. Scalpers were charging up to $50 a ticket for a $10 show. MTV, KROQ and even CNN brought video cameras and music executives into the tightly packed club.

But this was nothing like the buzz Kula Shaker produced on stage.

The band, led by charismatic lead singer/guitarist Crispian Mills, thrilled the capacity crowd, playing songs from their spiritually charged album, "K."

Kula Shaker opened the hour-long show with energetic tunes like "Hey Dude" and "Knight on the Town," showcasing Mills' subtle swagger and showman-style guitar playing. The bell-bottomed Mills took on the part of the '60s hero, emulating stage legends like Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison.

Mills also displayed his sense of humor. He told the L.A. crowd, "I don't know if you'll appreciate this ..." and kicked into "303," singing, "I'm just a man stuck pushing a wheel/ Moving on down the road to the 303."

Kula Shaker's psychedelic spirituality manifested itself with shameless hippie-anthems like "Grateful When Your Dead." But the band didn't just regurgitate the album through the P.A. The music was brought to another level, creating a swirling, mesmerizing wall of sound that the crowd excitedly responded to.

The surest sign of Kula Shaker's massive potential influence was the crowd's enthusiasm for the Indian mysticism mixed into the music. "Tattva" was one huge sing-along, chanting back to Mills the song's aphoristic chorus "Acintya bheda bheda Tattva." When Mills introduced "Govinda" ("Let's sing a little song about India"), the audience roared and grooved to what became the show's stunning climax, complete with Mills' powerful vocals over Sonic Youth-like guitar effects.

The band's three-song encore whetted the crowd's appetite for more music, closing with the Monkees-influenced "Smart Dogs." Kula Shaker left the crowd with a taste of the past and an anticipation for the band's future.

Sony Music

Kula Shaker channeled '60s-style mysticism at the Whiskey.