UK Gig Review: Kula Shaker @ KOKO
- Comments: 3 in total
- Author:
Cat McGovern, MyVillage
UK Gig Review: Kula Shaker @ KOKO
October 10, 2020
After being away for 7 years Kula Shaker are back. The recently reformed group is here tonight to showcase their new album ‘Strangefolk’ to a sold out audience who are over-joyed with their return. These mid-nineties favourites are greeted with such a welcoming reception. Front man Crispin Mills does not seem to have aged and still looks as fresh-faced and naïve as he did in his hay-day. They start with the Indie classic Hey Dude and grind and writhe through the song dressed suitably in what appears to be faux school-uniform.
But as the set progresses it seems as if their music has stayed frozen in time since their first release in 1996, and as Mills becomes more confident and comfortable with his surroundings he shows us why some people could not stand the group back in the day. He begins to perform as if it were a play and as if he is mimicking how a ‘rock star’ should act. With grossly over the top actions and gestures with his guitar, instead of looking accomplished he comes across as a pretentious show off - highly disappointing.
Notably, for one of the songs he had all lights positioned on him and stood with a Jesus pose to his ‘adoring’ fans, with a silhouette of a mysterious man in the back-drop. Pompous? I think so. However, despite Mills’ failings he did whip out the classics such as, Tattva, Hush, Govinda; and a sprinkling of new tracks which did not sound too bad. Interestingly, they did a rendition of The Prodigy’s Narayan;, for which Mills provided the original vocals on Prodigy’s ‘Fat of the Land’ album. It did not measure up to the original but was curiously orchestrated nonetheless.
Kula Shaker’s problem was always that their music is simply of the wrong era. Their blend of indie with psychedelic rock and Sanskrit chanting never found a solid place in the music industry, which is probably why they parted ways 7 years ago. Their first album ‘K’ was a massive success and the band were seen as a novelty due to their use of Sanskrit and Indian-inspired sounds. It became quite obvious, however, that they were a one-trick-pony and could not live up to expectation, which was shown in their weak performance tonight.
As Govinda; ends, Mills announces to the audience “See you again in seven years – maybe”. Seeing as they have not changed in seven years, maybe it would be for the best if we didn’t.
Were you at this gig? Tell us about it, or what you make of Kula Shaker’s semi-climactic return by clicking Post a Comment
Photo courtesy of Solamore
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Jay said on 22nd November ...
"Oh, the one star is for the misleading quality of the review. The performance was 5 stars."
Jay said on 22nd November ...
"One of the best rock concerts ever! I'm a convert to Kula Shaker."
John5 said on 26th October ...
"Fantastic show, powerful performace, it's good to have them back."