Most Santa Barbarans spent a sleepy Sunday night watching the Oscars on television. But for a select few, Sunday night was anything but sleepy. It was just another one of the countless, masterful musical performances that go unnoticed in this ambivalent entertainment mecca. Kinky, an Indie rock group from Monterrey Mexico, shook things up at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club.
The band, playing for an ecstatic crowd of less than 100, mostly Latin, music fans, exploded on stage late in the evening. Kinky is a unique rock band hard to classify in any single genre. Sometimes sounding like Jimi Hendrix meets salsa music, the only thing that can be said with certainty is that the band rocks.
Kinky has developed an impressive biography, beginning fittingly at the dawn of the 21st century. After a performance at the “battle of the bands” 2000 Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York City, they met and were signed by British producer Chris Allison, of Coldplay fame. The band’s first album, Kinky, released in 2002 was a critical success, and they have been on an artistic roll ever since. They have now recorded four albums, with guest performances from musicians like Colin Hay (Men at Work), and have successfully toured the world.
The last time I saw Kinky perform, two years ago at the Los Angeles Detour Festival, they had more than 10,000 screaming fans dancing and gyrating to their music. There may have only been a handful of fans braving the dreary drizzly night to venture out to SOhO on Sunday, but they were no less energetic than the huge L.A. audience. The band had the whole crowd dancing and singing until well past midnight.
— L. Paul Mann is a Noozhawk contributor.