| The King Khan & BBQ Show | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Genres | Garage rock Garage punk Rock and roll |
| Years active | 2002 — 2010, 2011 [1] |
| Labels | Solid Sex Lovie Doll Records Norton Records Goner Records Hazelwood In the Red Records |
| Associated acts | The Spaceshits Les Sexareenos King Khan & The Shrines King Khan & His Lonesome Guitar. |
The King Khan & BBQ Show was a Canadian Garage rock duo from Montreal, Quebec who mixed doo-wop and punk. The band was composed of former Spaceshits bandmates Mark Sultan and Blacksnake, alias King Khan. Mark Sultan, under the pseudonym BBQ, contributed vocals, guitar, tambourine, bass drum, and snare drum, while King Khan provided lead guitar and vocals. An entertainer named Leo Chips, formerly known as Age of Danger of the Deadly Snakes, (the SHOW in King Khan & BBQ Show) joined the group as a drummer and organist for some shows during the Invisible Girl U.S tour in 2009.[2]
Chart Attack reported that the band may have broken up following a "huge screaming match" between Sultan and Khan at The Opera House in Sydney, Australia.[3] The band has officially broken up in Daegu, South Korea.[4]
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BBQ and King Khan had collaborated as members of the Montreal-based Spaceshits from 1995-99. During a mid-1999 European tour, Blacksnake (as King Khan was then known) opted to remain in Germany. The Spaceshits, choosing not to continue without Blacksnake, disbanded. Later in 1999, Mark Sultan started another Montreal-based band, Les Sexareenos, before venturing off on his own in 2002 as a one-man band under the pseudonym BBQ. It was as BBQ that Mark Sultan re-established contact with Blacksnake, playing alongside Blacksnake's new band, King Khan & the Shrines. The two began writing songs together at Blacksnake's apartment in Germany, playing them live at sporadic shows around Germany and Spain.[5]
In 2004 the band recorded their first album as the King Khan & BBQ Show, releasing "The King Khan & BBQ Show LP" in America on Goner Records, and on Hazelwood Records in Europe. The album was recorded by DM Bob in Hamburg, Germany. In support of the album, the band began a world tour, with stops in Europe, the US, and South America.[6] In 2006 the band released their second LP, "What's for Dinner?", on In the Red Records. In 2008, Impose Magazine crowned King Khan the best performer of 2008.[7] On July 31, 2009, Pitchfork Media reported that King Khan & BBQ will be releasing Invisible Girl (Album) in November. They embarked on a forty day US/Canada tour to coincide with the release.[8] On November 12, while on tour in the United States, Khan and tour manager Kristin Klein were arrested in Kentucky on illegal drug possession charges. Klein was also booked for driving with an invalid license. She entered a guilty plea and will appear in court on April 2, 2010. The band missed three shows due to the holdup.[9]
In 2010, the duo was hand picked by Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson to play two shows at the Vivid Live festival they were curating. The shows were played at the Sydney Opera House. The festival described the band's art: "This dynamic duo has relentlessly pursued an uncompromising vision of the subversive power of music that pays no heed to commercial imperatives. Standing outside the industry, two fingers raised in salute, they have nevertheless managed to forge an international career completely on their own, idiosyncratic terms." [10] The band split after the Sydney show.
On June 2, 2011, Mark Sultan announced that he and King Khan had recorded with one another once again.