Music

King Khan & BBQ split up for good this time

by Ciaran Thompson

Earlier this month the King Khan & BBQ show split up after a gig in Australia, but patched things up to continue their tour of Asia until now. According to a review of their last show in Daegu, South Korea from Obscure Sounds, the gig was cut short and the end result looks like the band is no more.

After 45 minutes of music at the small venue called Bar Guess, Khan’s antics on stage started to get out of control, which is really nothing new if you’ve been to one of their gigs before. However after a discussion with Mark Sultan, aka BBQ, the latter walked off stage while Khan played one more song alone.

According to writer Jay Mattson who covered the show, after Khan walked backstage, “everyone in the audience could hear the screaming. A projection screen was pulled down in front of the instruments and performing space, and Sultan was seated to the direct right of the screen. From behind the screen, the high-pitched screams of Khan resonated throughout the entire bar, partly because they were so loud, and mostly because no one else was talking, just listening. A visible Sultan was shrugging, calmly trying to converse with Khan about the state of their musical act.”

Mattson managed to get an interview with Sultan after the show where the musician wanted everyone to know that, “[Arish Khan] is a jackass who can’t hold his alcohol. This happened back in Australia. I mean, I patched things up there and thought we could make it until the end of the tour. But he’s really just an alcoholic. I’m sick of the abuse. We’re not finishing the tour.”

Sultan has pledged to finishing the remaining tour dates on his own. “I write [and perform] 99% of the music,” he said. Though it seems like we won’t be witnessing any more crazy King Khan & BBQ shows for the next little while, Sultan admits still caring for his former bandmate saying, “speaking as a friend, I just hope [Khan] gets the help he needs.”