I used to like King Khan and the Shrines, who were on your cover July 17. I first saw them a few years back at their roof-raising performance at The Comfort Zone for NXNE. In over 20 years of attending live music, it was one of the best shows I’d ever seen.

Imagine my disappointment then, when I went to see King Khan and the Shrines at the Horseshoe on July 23, and all he wanted to do was insult me and everyone else in attendance.
After the second song, Khan decided to launch into a hate-rant about Toronto, an inexplicable trend that is becoming all-too-familiar from the mouths of anyone who doesn’t live here (particularly those from Montreal, a place that King Khan has called home). “You guys are so easy to pick on,” he said. Funny, I didn’t think that was what I paid for…

After the third or fourth song, further Toronto-bashing ensued. This time his rant was ostensibly brought on by the crowd’s unwillingness to chant along with his boneheaded singalong of “Ass and titties! Ass and titties!”

“You guys are so fucking lame, I can’t believe it” were his exact words. Then, when an excited fan spilled about seven drops of beer on the stage, he had the audacity to say, “Don’t throw beer on the stage! If you throw beer on the stage, I’m gonna come down there...”?Oooh. The King wants us to not be lame, but then threatens us if a little beer is thrown around.

A further misogynist take on David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” followed, featuring brilliantly embellished lyrics about fucking a girl in the ass. At this point my crew and I had had enough. We fled to the front patio of the Horseshoe, only to find another group of friends who were out there for the same reason. “I’d rather sit out here and smoke cigarettes than put up with that shit” was one friend’s claim.

What a shame. The Shrines were absolutely KILLER, too — they were clearly ready to bring it, only to be sandbagged by King Khan’s hate-banter.

Open letter to King Khan: If you really, truly don’t like Toronto, don’t come here and take our money under the pretense of putting on a show for us when all you really want to do is insult us. Rather, do yourself and all the residents here a favour: please — I implore you: DON’T COME BACK.
SEAN BERESFORD

Snake-oil critic
I can picture Chandler Levack hearing the cowbells on Brendan Canning’s “Love is New” (On Disc, July 17) and deciding that this must be some of that Latin music stuff. Hmm…This isn’t totally indie, so I guess I’ll call it a “soulful mamba.” Quick music/zoology lesson: a mamba is a deadly poisonous snake, which this song is not. Perhaps you meant the track was a “mambo,” which, while closer to the mark, is still way off target. (I’d argue against “soulful,” but that’s subjective.) Please brush up on your non-rock forms so you don’t make the mistake of referring to Gilberto Gil as a sambo musician, or something equally embarrassing, in the future. ERNEST AGBUYA

CLARIFICATION
In our interview with Ruby Coast (Music, July 24), one phrase could lead readers to misunderstand who produced their debut EP. It was produced by Damon de Szegheo. It is currently being re-recorded, with producer David Monks.

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