King Khan & The Shrines have been spreading their love like peanut butter since 1999. A youngblood King Khan on his royal buddhistic journey decides to sow some wild oats in Germany, he finds true love and fulfills his life long dream of leading a super bad ass 10 piece soul inferno!!!!

The line-up includes 60 year-old Chicago-born, Ron Streeter (the live-percussionist of Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, and many other Soul-Legends), a horn section consisting of Simon Wojan (member of Kranky Records recording artists Cloudland Canyon), Ben Ra (Germany's John Coltrane), and famous French rockabilly saxophonist Big Fred Rollercoaster. The rhythm section of the Sensational Shrines has been called a German/French version of the Freak Brothers.

Their first album THREE HAIRS & YOU'RE MINE was produced by Liam Watson recorded in the legendary Toe Rag Studios in London, England and released in 2002. A second full-length, MR. SUPERNATURAL, followed in 2004. King Khan & the Shrines became an all-star international movement. Numerous gigs followed all across Europe with the Black Lips, Enon, Demolition Dollrods, Mr.Quintron & Ms. Pussycat, an after-party for 50 Cent in Norway. They headlined Toronto's NXNE festival 2006 playing three nights in a row and even had a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra join their brass section.

In 2007, King Khan released WHAT IS?! which received critical acclaim from all over the world, landing at #33 on Pitchfork's Top Albums of 2007 while their track Welfare Bread landed at #66 on Pitchfork's Top 100 Songs of 2007.

Now comes 2008 and for the first time ever this musical dynamite is widely available in U.S. of A. for the very first time. A greatest hits of his greatest hits, the cream of a very creamy crop - this is the Supreme Genius of King Khan and The Shrines at their absolutely very best. The entire 11-person psychedelic-soul big band revue will be raving up stages for the first time through North America the summer of 2008, leaving behind them a colorful spell of amazement and wonder.

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