The desert gets 'Kula' for a change

Tanith L. Balaban Arizona Daily Wildcat Crispian Mills and Paul Winter-Hart of Kula Shaker

Following the Beatles cover, which did a perfect job of setting the stage for the band's retro-laced brand of trip-rock, we were treated to a quick and amusing little medley made up of snippets from the Prodigy's "Firestarter" and Beck's "Devil's Haircut," both suitably altered to fit with Kula Shaker's swirly vibe. Then it was on to the band's own material, where they would stay for the rest of the night, with only one exception.

"Knight On The Town," a track off of their debut album "K", officially led off the set, followed by "303," both full-on rockers backed by a wholeheartedly energetic performance. We even got to see our share of rock antics as the show went on, with Crispian climbing the drum riser and the Hammond organ and playfully leaping around. He even knocked over his amplifier at one point in Kurt Cobain fashion, but it seemed due more to frustration than angst, since it didn't seem to be working properly. Actually, the technical difficulties that occurred with both the amp and Crispian's ear-monitor, even though they were apologized for, added a good deal of comic relief to the evening. A middle-aged roadie was constantly running onto the stage in the middle of songs, trying to fix everything and getting knocked around in the process. But the mood of the show was lighthearted anyway, with the band seeming to genuinely enjoy themselves as they played - not afraid to let the crowd know that playing music can actually be fun.

The majority of the songs played were off of "K," including the two singles "Tattva" and "Hey Dude," both of which brought the strongest reaction from the otherwise docile Arizona audience. It would have been great if the crowd could have been enthusiastic for the entire show, but I attribute that more to where the show was than to who was playing, since Arizona rock concert crowds aren't usually the most receptive. In fact, the band really did seem to be putting everything they had into their songs. With the exception of "Tattva," which relies heavily on its studio production effects, the rest of the songs sounded at least as good, if not better, than the songs on the record. It didn't even seem to matter that although Bevan was singing backing vocals into a microphone, they didn't appear to be coming out anywhere, or that drummer Paul Winter-Hart didn't seem to use the stranger percussion instruments he had available. It just supported the band's hard-line live music ethic, like their refusal to make use of pre-recorded DAT tapes to support their sound.

Some special treats of the night included a brilliant cover of Deep Purple's "Hush," which is currently available as an import single, and a new song, "For This Love," which was good despite the band's assurances that it was a "shit song." Finally, these enlightened fellows took us all on a magical tour of the Far East to finish things off with the jangly Sanskrit-riddled tune "Govinda," doing their best to leave a wisp of psychedelia hanging in the air as they left the stage for the second time.

Not the most memorable show I've ever seen, but a great way to spend an evening nevertheless.