Kula Shaker

In the land of live music, it would appear that lately, the “classic album” gig is king. As my friend and colleague David pointed out the other day “Fuck me – there’s shit loads of them happening.” OK, he didn’t say that, I did. He’s better than that. But what he did point out was that in the last few weeks alone, we’ve had Sam Duckworth re-visit his 2006 Get Cape Wear Cape Fly album, Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager; we’ve had The Fratellis in town to remind us that it’s also been ten years since they released Costello Music, and just the other night Terrorvision rocked up to party their way through their 1996 hit album, Regular Urban Survivors. Well, hot on the heels of the best advert for tequila since casual sex, are fellow ‘90s alumni Kula Shaker, who turned up at the LCR last night just in case we had forgotten that it’s also been a double-decade since they smashed their way onto the scene with K. So, has this classic from the days of Britpop and TFI Friday aged like a fine wine, or become as obsolete as dial-up internet and Global Hypercolour t-shirts?

Firstly, it would be remiss of me not to mention unsigned opening act Rudy Warman and the Heavy Weather, whose blend of folky blues and big hats grew on me, and the rest of the crowd, with every song. Their grassroots attitude, and hippy outlook fitted the vibe of the evening, and I do love a good bit of slide guitar when played well, as this was. If you see them playing, go and have a look, it’s worth your time.

Back to the main event, and have Kula Shaker still got it? Hell yes. “It” in this case being a blend of psychedelic, heavily Indian-influenced rock that got lumped in with the whole Britpop thing that was happening at the same time, but that ultimately co-existed rather than “fitted in” with other bands of the era, and has left a Shaker shaped hole ever since they disappeared. As such, as soon as the sitars and Sanskrit kicked in, it was like being re-united with an old friend. In case you need a history lesson, K went multi-platinum back in its day, and songs like Hey Dude, Tattva, and Grateful When You’re Dead were the reason why. Crispian Mills acted like a front man should, stopping between songs to take us on a journey not just through the album, but through the B sides and rarities from the band’s heyday. They even slipped in a couple of crowd pleasers from other albums, including everyone’s favourite Deep Purple cover, Hush.