King Khan and The Shrines incited the crowd into what can only be described as a pandemic of feverish head bobbing and shoulder dancing at Neumos on Oct. 16. Dressed in a silver sports coat with a bone necklace, Khan and his band delivered an onslaught of hyped up, soulful, classic sounding R&B songs. The energy kicked off high and didn’t relent throughout the entire set.

Within the first few songs, Khan’s guitarist and bassist jumped into the crowd with their instruments. At a King Khan and The Shrines show, the stakes are always being raised. They don’t start slow and work their way up; they start with as much energy as they can, and see how they can top it.

As a true showman, Khan offered insightful quips between his belting.

“Take out the trash, mother fuckers,” Khan said at one point. “This one’s for all you super heroes out there,” he’d say later.

A bit darker in comparison, Hell Shovel and Spaceneedles opened the evening set. Hell Shovel’s dissonant, twangy punk rock saw the band glooming under specifically requested red lights. Spaceneedles aggressive grunge set felt like homage in spirit to gunge groups of yesteryear like Green River and Screaming Trees.

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