Kula Shaker Turns The Magic On In Leeds

When Kula Shaker rose to prominence as part of the BritPop movement in the Nineties, many derided their mix of sixties psychedelic rock and Indian culture, though after thirty years, the band is still going strong, as witnessed in a solid, stomping, and swaggering performance at the o2 Academy in Leeds.

In February, they released Natural Magick, a return to form that features the title track as one of their best songs to date. A confident yet boisterous romp, the track comes with a barbed wire guitar riff that sparks and heals all at the same time.

The band's line-up remains intact, with frontman Crispian Mills, bassist Alonza Bevan, drummer Paul Winterheart, and keyboardist Jay Darlington working in harmony as they took the audience on a journey through their career to date, all set against a backdrop of images that made you feel like sometimes you were inside a lava lamp!

Mills prefers to let the music speak for itself, and it did, from the bubblegum pop of Indian Record Player to the psychedelic Hey Dude. When the music sounds as good as this, you begin to wonder why Kula Shaker has not become more respected than some of their peers.

Rock giants Deep Purple first recorded the rock-infused Hush, but Kula Shaker turned the magic on by making the track sound even more powerful and impressive.

They play a respectable version of Groove is in the Heart with a little help from the support act, The Dhol Foundation, which worked superbly as the track lifted the crowd even higher. The music of the gig may have originated in the sixties, but for the moment, Kula Shaker seemed to be relishing an Indian summer.