Show Review: King Khan and BBQ

Al Tuck's performance at Windsor's Phog Lounge last year was one of our favourites. So we were excited when we found out he was returning to Phog on Dec. 5. And had every intention of attending.

Until we learned that King Khan and BBQ were playing a Sailor Jerry-sponsored show the same night at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor. We knew it was like choosing between a poetry reading given by an eccentric genius and going to a strip club. But we'd never seen King Khan (aka Blacksnake) and BBQ (aka Mark Sultan), who were closing out their reunion tour at the Pig. Journalistic duty won.

The wildest days of this alt-rock/punk/garage duo might be behind them, but we weren't disappointed. So what if they are a bit like two veteran pole dancers in predictably campy neo-Egyptian costumes and black eyeliner? We couldn't take our eyes off them: Sultan's hyperbolic facial expressions, Khan's bare nipple jiggling beneath the gold collar as he played the entire set on a Sailor Jerry-branded guitar with a broken string.















 We couldn't take our ears off radio-friendly (and safe) hits like "Invisible Girl" and "I'll Be Loving You" either. The packed floor of college students launched into the raunchier lyrics, sold hooker, line and fishing pole by Khan and Sultan's honest energy and middle finger attitude.

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

Soundtrack for the Season

Want to share your love of Canadian indie music this holiday season? Download Ho Ho Ho Canada III from our friends across the pond, the Line of Best Fit, and slip it into the CD player with the Vince Guaraldi and Bing Crosby. It's a wonderful-- and free-- compilation that features some of our favourite Canadian indie artists, including The Mountains & The Trees, Slow Down, Molasses, The Wilderness of Manitoba, Al Tuck, Malajube, Kellarissa and more. Makes a great stocking stuffer, too.

Show Review: Al Tuck

Al Tuck

What makes a great show? Perfect vocals? Flawless synchronization between band members? A hair-flailing, high-energy performance? Sure. But sometimes great shows, like Al Tuck with Max Marshall and Alison Corbett, aka Black Molly, as his impromptu backing band at Windsor's Phog Lounge on Jul. 26, aren't the most perfect ones. "It might get a little scrappy," Tuck warned us. Scrappy isn't among the many adjectives we'd read about Tuck (PEI), but by the end of the evening, it proved to be almost as accurate as the accolades and laments, and made us fans forever.

Max Marshall

Marshall, the opener that evening, is a multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist, multi-band (The Windsor Salt Band, ASK) Windsor/Toronto musician. He was charmingly self-conscious on stage playing his first solo gig, and his folk/classical-inspired set, including some of the most accomplished guitar work we've seen in a while, was just plain charming. Corbett (St. John's, NL) has a similar pedigree, and is best known as a member of The Burning Hell.




So why did these two experienced session musicians-- Corbett on the violin, Marshall on the upright bass-- have such a hard time following Al Tuck? We've done a bit of amateur jamming in our day, and once you've got the basic chords down, usually some form of the standard 1-4-5, it's fairly easy to keep up and maybe even improvise a little. But Tuck doesn't do a lot of basic. Yes, his songs have verses, choruses, melodies-- and often beautifully crafted, wandering chord progressions. To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, the songs of Al Tuck are a journey, not a destination.

Alison Corbett and Max Marshall

Marshall and Corbett gamely tried to keep up, but scrappy it was. It didn't help that Tuck had to abandon his buzzy "parlor" guitar for an electric, and borrowed Marshall's guitar as well. Both instruments seemed to require a lot of retuning to different keys between songs, giving Tuck plenty of time to entertain the modest audience with stories, humour and observations on par with Norm MacDonald. We were disappointed that we never had a chance to hear Corbett really cut loose on the violin before she had to leave.

After a break, Tuck returned more relaxed for a second set; Marshall's earlier solo stage nerves gave way to witty banter. When he finally implored Tuck to "Play something I know," the atmosphere changed from "face down on the page" (Brave Last Days, 1994) to everyone on the same page on hits like "brother from another mother" (My Blues Away, 2005), and at the request of jojodillon, a lovely rendition of "Wishing Well, recorded by Joel Plaskett but penned by Tuck himself. Happy ending to a scrappy show.

We picked up Tuck's 2010 release, All Time Favourites, afterwards and it didn't leave the CD player for days. With every listen, our appreciation grew, and we expect it to grow even more when Tuck's new release, Under Your Shadow (New Scotland Records), drops on Nov. 8. Listen to the single "Slapping the Make On You" (produced by Joel Plaskett) here. If you're lucky enough to live in eastern Canada, Tuck will be touring in support of the new album-- with Sudbury's Ox as his backing band.

Nov. 3: Kingston, ON-- the Mansion
Nov. 4: Ottawa, ON-- Raw Sugar
Nov. 5: Montreal, PQ-- Grumpy's
Nov. 8: Fredericton, NB-- The Capital
Nov. 9: Moncton, NB-- Plan B
Nov. 10: Halifax, NS-- The Carleton
Nov. 11: Charlottetown, PEI-- Hunter's


Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

London Calling

On the CBC Radio 3 blog this week, we found out that only two paying attendees showed up for Al Tuck's recent performance at the London Music Club, and only because they happened to see Russ's Facebook post about the show. "Man, I totally would have gone," wrote one blogger. "How did I not know about it??" bemoaned another.

We might not be able to change the way shows are promoted (if they're promoted at all), but it didn't take us long to decide to expand our horizons again. In March we added Sarnia; now say hello to London on our calendar-- plus a couple of upcoming shows in Kalamazoo (The Besnard Lakes and Malajube) and East Lansing (Hollerado) that we'll be attending. If N2DS2W gets just one or two extra bodies to a show, it's worth it. Besides, it's our blog and we'll try if we want to. It's all about the music.

Show Alert: Al Tuck @ Phog Lounge

Tues., Jul. 26 - $5 cover
w/ Max Marshall

Is it Halloween? Because Tom Lucier has worked his magic and pulled off yet another trick, bringing a real treat back to Windsor's Phog Lounge: singer-songwriter Al Tuck (PEI). Although Phog is known for showcasing next year's buzz bands, Canada's Best Live Music Venue also draws talent that stands the test of time. Tuck has been called a "living legend" (Feist) and "songwriter of the highest order" (Jason Collett); also "criminally underexposed" (Earshot Online) and "brilliant but unheralded" (Grant Lawrence). Don't be left in the dark; this show will be well worth Every Little Thing.