King Khan clocked by Mastodon guitarist
September 19th, 2008 by Chad Radford in Music news
The inimitable Arish “King” Khan made a surprise appearance at The Highland Inn Lounge last night for the weekly Kirkwood Ballers Club open mic night. The place was packed, spirits were high and Khan, who flew to Atlanta from Berlin, played guitar and sang in an impromptu set with Bobby Ubangi (vocals / tamborine), Frank Jenson (drums), Jessica Juggz (drums), and a guest appearance by Brent Hinds from Mastodon who also played guitar.
The legendary pairing of the king and the behemoth on one stage together seemed to be working just fine as they pounded their way through a few, sloppy garage rock numbers, including a cover of the song, “G–L–O–R–I–A.” The crowd loved it. The band was all smiles and at one point Arish even dumped a beer out on Brent’s head, but it all looked like it was in good fun.
However, the mood changed drastically when shortly after the set, Khan took a fist to the face from Brent, that resulted in a trip to the hospital.
The formerly amicable party atmosphere turned into somewhat of a witch hunt, but Brent had left the building.
Here’s my account.
I was standing in line at the bar after the show and Khan walked past me and said something, but the house music was too loud for me to hear what he said, and he was holding a blood-soaked rag to his mouth.
The guy in line with me, Mike Keenan from the band Hawks, turned to me and asked, “Did he say that Brent punched him in the face?”
That’s when the air in the room turned into a whirlwind. Angry hipsters stormed to and fro, carrying blood-soaked rags and looking for Brent — but he was nowhere to be found.
I caught up with Khan after the trip to Atlanta Medical Center, which resulted in three stitches in his upper lip.
“The thing about it is that he dumped beer on his own head first,” Khan said. “After the show I apologized and offered to buy him a beer. He said ‘Do you know who I am? I am the greatest guitar player around,’ and punched me in the face. It sucked to get punched in the face, but I live for these kinds of adventures and I love this town.”
(Photos by Kristen Klein)
September 19th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
“angry hipsters stormed to and fro” That’s funny. What were they going to do when they found him? “I’m gonna blog about you!!” heh heh heh.
September 19th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
i do believe they were singing ”gloryhole” instead of gloria
September 19th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
B is correct. It was Gloryhole.
September 19th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
that shits crazy. i cant believe that bullshit about ‘best guitarist around.’ totally arbitrary. what a fucking douche.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I personally know brent hinds and he truly is “THE GREATEST GUITAR PLAYER AROUND”!!!!!!!! I was in Dugan’s on Ponce one time and he bought me a shot… as I pulled the shotglass away from my lips, I realized this man is a rock and roll guitar genius. That cold, but firey look in his eyes spoke to me and said “I AM THE GREATEST GUITAR PLAYER AROUND”!!!!!! I mean, this guy “King Khan” or whatever should feel blessed to have his blood drawn by such a mighty hand of rock and roll might!!!!!!!!
September 20th, 2008 at 9:53 am
What a great ending to a great show! I love rock and/or roll!
God Bless the Kirkwood Ballers Club.
September 20th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Seeing as Hinds is, in fact, an excellent guitar player — “best” notwithstanding — Khan shouldn’t have worried. But pouring a beer over a dude’s head is grounds for a whoopin’. Lucky for Hinds he wasn’t found and tied up with everyone’s white belts.
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Brent is becoming the Andy Dick of Metal…
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:37 pm
A Beer over the head, I would punch him too. ” Angry Hipsters” thats fuckin funny. I don’t think their glow sticks would be sturdy enough to strangle Hines.
Great Article
September 24th, 2008 at 10:44 am
MastoKhan: The Make-up Album —coming soon!
September 25th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Khan and Jeff Clark should form a support group for dudes assaulted by Mr. Hinds…..he is good…but do you have to pull the Tommy Lee?…come on.
October 16th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
I think King Khan is the world’s greatest guitar player,so there!
November 2nd, 2008 at 1:48 am
king khan is a piece of shit, as a musician and a human … there’s way better talent than this asswipe. . . please, for the love of god, stop masquerading as anything but what you are, a turd.
November 2nd, 2008 at 4:15 am
There are a few things about this incident that have not been pointed out. First of all, Khan was not the first person to pour beer on Brent that night. Nor was he the second. And the guitar that Brent was trying to play during the rendition of “Gloryhole” was the one that was strapped to Khan’s shoulder. After the song, Khan took off the guitar and handed it to Brent to play, which seemed to befuddle Mr. Hinds, so he tried to hand it back. It was at this point that Arish poured the beer which led to his busted lip.
March 11th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Fuck brent king khans where its at!
April 19th, 2009 at 2:44 am
khan is a joke, he deserved it
May 7th, 2009 at 1:58 am
Brent is a fkn legend, Bring back the Biff, and fk those 2 maggots that bashed him when he was pissed