BAEBLE CONCERTS: King Khan and the Shrines at McCarren Park

Well, this is an absolute mess of a performance. The stage is totally trashed, the songs are slightly sloppy and slap dash in their own right, and...in all honesty...the leader of this pack of Shrines is a bit of an Amtrak pileup. See the fellow masquerading around in the Speedo, black cape, and golden swimming cap type thing? That would be King "Bama Lama" Khan - a freak of a front man, the likes of which we've never seen before. Throughout this skuzzy, summertime, blues/funk revue (imagine Sly and the Family Stone roughing up the Black Lips) at McCarren Park Pool , viewers have the opportunity to learn a thing or two about the man...not the least of which includes the fact that Khan loves Duffy, thinks Atlanta crack is the best crack, pens fight songs for French Canadian separatists, wants to be a girl, and, well...he'd just love to impregnate his manager with a crawfish that was thrown on stage for some reason. My god...

Of course, train wrecks also have an interesting, irresistible quality about them. It's darn near impossible to avoid gawking at the wreckage. And in the case of this incredibly bombastic performance, you'll be glad you did. The carnage is just too glorious to ignore. - david pitz