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.