Kula Shaker
Shepherd's Bush Empire; London
8th February 2008

Taper : PETROCK2000

Rig : SP CMC-8 -> Edirol R09HR -> SP-10 Battery Box -> WAV -> FLAC -> YOU

Sound Quality : Audience

Length : 74.24
01. Intro
02. Kick Out the Jams [MC5]
03. Hey Dude
04. Out on the Highway
05. Second Sight
06. Jerry Was There
07. 303
08. Mystical Machine Gun
09. Shower Your Love
10. Hurricane Season
11. Tattva
12. True Love Will Find You in the End [Daniel Johnston]
13. Hush [Joe South]
14. Song of Love / Narayana
Encore:
15. Great Dictator [of the Free World]
16. Great Hosannah
17. Govinda

Review :
If there is one factoid that most people remember about Kula Shaker, it is not that their first album, K, was the fastest-selling debut of 1996, but that leader Crispian Mills got himself into trouble by defending the swastika ("a misused Hindu peace symbol"). Eight years after splitting up, the relentlessly reviled Britpoppers are back, and Mills is reprising his role as the singer you cannot take anywhere.

He may have learned his lesson about making divisive proclamations, but he still makes you cringe for the rest of the group. Mills spends his hour on stage reinforcing the old perception that he is awfully silly. He calls the sold-out crowd "motherfuckers" twice, like an upper-crust rapper, introduces new song Out On the Highway by inviting us to imagine Jeremy Clarkson "strapped naked to the roof of your car" and sinks to his knees during frequent moments of spotlight-induced rockingness.

Kula Shaker do have their pluses, which are the same as during their first incarnation. The hits Tattva and Hey Dude have not lost their psych-pop appeal, and when the group hunker down into extended versions, adding layer upon juddering keyboard layer, it can be mesmerising. They carry off some astutely chosen covers - Mills is so fired up for MC5's Kick Out the Jams, he almost combusts - and their new album, Strange Folk, yields heartfelt, 60s-inspired love songs.

Mills is lending support to the anti-ID cards campaign, and finishes with a little speech. Like his devotion to Indian mysticism, it is wholehearted and a bit naive, but the fans cheer, validating the return of a band you did not know you had missed.

- The Guardian