Good thing King Khan and Mark "BBQ" Sultan have so many different projects to fall back on, because the future of their two-man garage group is in jeopardy after a scandal in Australia may have effectively ended their band. Performing at Sydney's Opera House for the Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson-curated Vivid LIVE festival, the duo allegedly ended their partnership after two shows turned sour.
Khan submitted an incredibly lengthy explanation to The Daily Swarm, giving a rundown of what went down. Essentially, the band's first Aussie performance on June 3 saw the expected chaos of a KK & BBQ show: Khan threw a rubber snake into the crowd, food was eaten and thrown around a little by the band, and the set ended with a group of audience members dancing on the stage.
For their second performance, the duo were warned that they should refrain from eating or letting audience members on stage, and that Khan shouldn't throw his snake into the crowd because it could be a safety hazard. Khan insists that he "heeded the warning," and refrained from throwing food or his snake. Instead, he spilled wine all over the stage and ended the set by throwing his guitar into the crowd.
The stint was enough to get Khan kicked out of the remainder of the festival and, worst of all, may have led to the break-up of the King Khan & BBQ Show, as he explains, "Returning to the backstage I opened the door to a scowling BBQ.... A HUGE SCREAMING MATCH ensued and so went the demise of the King Khan & BBQ show.... we agreed that this would be the last show ever. Wow.... what a way to die!!!!"
Whether this was just a very public fight or the actual end of this long-running Canadian garage-punk team is yet to be seen. If they are broken up, however, Sultan doesn't seem to know. From his solo MySpace page, he posted a bulletin on Tuesday (June 8) titled "BBQ live in HONG KONG", where he writes "Tonight at GRAPPAS in HONG KONG: BBQ, one-man band. Khan will meet me in Shanghai to complete the tour. I'll be playing KKBBQ stuff and Mark Sultan stuff, tonight."
If they can't patch up their differences, Calgary's Sled Island will be a very awkward festival this year as King Khan and Mark Sultan are sharing curatorial duties and scheduled to perform with both the King Khan & BBQ Show and the Almighty Defenders.
Khan submitted an incredibly lengthy explanation to The Daily Swarm, giving a rundown of what went down. Essentially, the band's first Aussie performance on June 3 saw the expected chaos of a KK & BBQ show: Khan threw a rubber snake into the crowd, food was eaten and thrown around a little by the band, and the set ended with a group of audience members dancing on the stage.
For their second performance, the duo were warned that they should refrain from eating or letting audience members on stage, and that Khan shouldn't throw his snake into the crowd because it could be a safety hazard. Khan insists that he "heeded the warning," and refrained from throwing food or his snake. Instead, he spilled wine all over the stage and ended the set by throwing his guitar into the crowd.
The stint was enough to get Khan kicked out of the remainder of the festival and, worst of all, may have led to the break-up of the King Khan & BBQ Show, as he explains, "Returning to the backstage I opened the door to a scowling BBQ.... A HUGE SCREAMING MATCH ensued and so went the demise of the King Khan & BBQ show.... we agreed that this would be the last show ever. Wow.... what a way to die!!!!"
Whether this was just a very public fight or the actual end of this long-running Canadian garage-punk team is yet to be seen. If they are broken up, however, Sultan doesn't seem to know. From his solo MySpace page, he posted a bulletin on Tuesday (June 8) titled "BBQ live in HONG KONG", where he writes "Tonight at GRAPPAS in HONG KONG: BBQ, one-man band. Khan will meet me in Shanghai to complete the tour. I'll be playing KKBBQ stuff and Mark Sultan stuff, tonight."
If they can't patch up their differences, Calgary's Sled Island will be a very awkward festival this year as King Khan and Mark Sultan are sharing curatorial duties and scheduled to perform with both the King Khan & BBQ Show and the Almighty Defenders.