Late summer reviews: Otto von Schirach + DAT Politics, King Khan & BBQ, Berlin Festival

Church of Phonk @ Berlin Festival

Summer came and went at the blink of an eye. And we were busy. C* and Gary got hitched in Vegas (no kiddin'), J. and C* got stuck into their new jobs, the weather was so great that most afternoons were spent by one of Berlin's beautiful lakes. When autumn came with full force last month, I really started fretting. Would I be able to handle another Berlin winter after the last one snowed its way into April? Now that relatives are calling about Christmas plans and the buttons need to be fastened again on my winter coats, the prospect of the impending cold does not seem quite as scary anymore. But it does let me dwell on great a summer we have had.

MBV @ Berlin Festival

This leads me to admit that most of summer I slacked terribly with my reviews. On one of our tea afternoons the other day, J. and I wondered whether it was still worth doing those old reviews and came to the conclusion that it was probably too late and it was best to leave it be. Who wants to live in the past, right? The future is now!

As a mark of respect to the many great performers I saw over the summer and to make sure I have links for my Top of the Year list next month, I am giving three past events a quick mention here, with a couple of photos to lighten the autumn blues. A hommage to summer.

PS: Also watch out for my Destruction Unit review and my second LA report later this week. And some point, there will also be an account of what happened when Iceage played West Germany.

London report: ATP I'll Be Your Mirror Fest

If I told you I saw The Locust, King Khan & The Shrines, Dirty Beaches, Anika, K-Holes, Mick Harvey and Yeah Yeah Yeahs all in one day, you'd label me mad. Surely that is a bill that cannot actually happen in real life. Think again.

Half business trip, half pleasure weekend, Gary and I hopped over to North London over the weekend to attend one in a series of All Tomorrow's Parties' events called I'll Be Your Mirror. They are one-day festivals curated by a chosen artist - in this case the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Although ATP have been rumoured to discontinue the series due to poor ticket sales, the events themselves stand out like no others. If the artist has good taste - YYYs: good taste they have - the line-up is unmatchable and in typical ATP fashion, the setting rather special.

'Ally Pally' balcony view

Alexandra Palace is an old exhibition / recreational hall the way they were concepted and built in London during the 19th century. I lived in Crystal Palace for over six years and of course there is no Crystal Palace in Crystal Palace, since the original structure fell victim to a fire many years ago. But when you walk on the palace foundations in Crystal Palace Park, you always imagine the grandeur and splendour that took place there once. Alexandra Palace, still being fully intact, gives you a glimpse of past public recreation. Some features distinctly remind you of church elements (colourful glass panelled round windows, an organ) but at the same time you feel like you are in a palace in a park setting, which you are. To stage a music and film fest here is a magical concept.

Business called us to arrive early at the venue and we immediately started to panic. Half an hour before the first band, Anika, was to go on the smaller of the two stages, the halls of Alexandra Palace were deserted and we would have not been surprised to see tumble weed roll by. However, all was well when I finally made it to Anika's set half way through her stage time and found the room being well filled and people appreciative of Anika's music. I was positively surprised by how well her new band managed to fill the gap left by the absence of Beak>, who have parted ways with Anika recently. Another great performance. I only had time for a few songs but those truly convinced.

Back in the main hall, K-Holes were the poor chosen ones to fill the first slot on the big stage. I was not farmiliar with this band previously and I seriously wonder why. Punky wavey music with a charismatic front woman, a saxophone player and a kick ass band, these young ones are right up my street. The sound in the big, more or less, empty hall was unflattering to the band but I could tell this was a good rock'n'roll group up on that stage. Cannot wait to see them in a small sweaty venue in future!

The two stages were staggered in a way that you could catch at least some of every band you wanted to see - with this line-up that was a godsent. A culture shock awaited us back on the small stage: Big Freedia had his New Orleans bounce hip hop and some ass shaking to go with it in store for the audience, who were up for it. Fantastic stage costumes and an in-your-face attitude worked well for a festival warm up act, though my attention span is clearly too short for 45 minutes of the same beat. Shame on me. Thumbs up for Big Freedia.

Prince Rama's grand entrance

Passing through the main hall, we caught the first couple of Prince Rama's songs. They were walking through the audience with a big veil on and a host of photographers following them around. An entrance if I ever saw one! Musically however, their psychedelic dream dance couldn't match some of the other amazing artists on the bill for me. Or the setting just didn't work for them. Time for some soul gospel rock'n'roll.

The King on film

So it's warm today. But it's also grey and wet. Let's face it, winter is here to stay a month longer, in the least. Now that I got you down, let me pick you up. Following on from my review of the King Khan & The Shrines show, here is a video Gary shot for us. We actually got a better one a couple of songs later but this one beautifully shows the mayhem that went on, so I felt sharing this one with you in lieu of the other tamer one. Enjoy!

Review: King Khan & The Shrines

Every year, January bores us to bits. And every year, there is that one gig that makes up for the whole rest of the month, gets us excited, hot and sweaty. This year, the Maharaja of Soul returned to give us all some garage gospel music for the soul. In tow: an eight piece band called The Shrines. And Festsaal? Packed to the rim, rivalling that infamous Electralane gig, which was apprently the fullest Festsaal had ever been.

Having mastered the queue to the newly established basement cloakroom and survived the heat shock when entering the steaming concert room, it was immediately clear to us that only the far right side of the balcony had any space left for us. Unless we wanted to start climbing on top of people. Which we didn't. As the evening progressed, we sure were glad we had secured that balcony space because things would get wild.

Review: King Khan & BBQ Show + BIKES

King Khan manages to positively surprise me time and again. When I think of the man, I somehow always think of in-your-face antics and insanity. He somehow conveys that idea and image. In reality though, he appears to be an unexpectedly mellow fellow with a good sense of rhythm and an unusual dress sense. When paired with Mark Sultan, aka BBQ, only magic can ensue.

A couple of years back, King Khan and Mark Sultan announced the discontinuation of their project. Having managed to sustain it across continents for a while, it seemed logical that this was not going to work like a regular band. Therefore, the announcement of their Festsaal gig was greeted with surprise and cheer. On the night, you could feel the excitement people felt over this performance taking place.

You know the weather is changing when there are actually people inside Festsaal inbetween bands.  And wow, they were so up for a jig, dancing their socks off to the most fantastic set by DJ Lobotomy. A relaxed and dance-hungry crowd is certainly my kind of crowd and was a nice change from the night before. 

This played into the hands of support band BIKES, who played nice traditional garage rock but did not have to try too hard to get folks moving. They were willing to dance and this is what they did. BIKES merely supplied the soundtrack with their solid long set and their Kinks looks.

By the time, the stage set-up of Egyptian looking statues was revealed, the lights dimmed and the costumes put on, the crowd was mad for action. The headline act hit the first note and wild dancing instantly set in, on and off stage. My, King Khan is swell dancer, Mark Sultan a great performer (reminding me of Matt Lucas' drumming baby in Shooting Stars), and their audience appreciative. Dancing and smiling, on the floor and on the balcony. A party.


Musically, the duo play garage rock, no doubt, but their unusual set-up (Mark Sultan plays a self-built drum set only with his feet while playing guitar with his hands), their crazy costumes (for this show ancient Egyptian themed) and their apparent fun while playing takes their music beyond just garage rock and into the realms of performance art. Yet, their songs are fun, easy to sing along to, and incredibly dancable.


I doubt that anyone left disappointed that night. We all had way too much fun and I wish I could do it all over tonight, or maybe tomorrow, or how about once a week?