{"id":1062,"date":"2007-04-19T20:23:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-19T20:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=1062"},"modified":"2024-04-03T20:24:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:24:30","slug":"and-it-feels-so-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=1062","title":{"rendered":"And it feels so good"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sacramento rock giants Kai Kln reunite after a nine-year hiatus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you lived in the Sacramento Valley during the early \u201990s, chances are you\u2019ve heard of Kai Kln. Legend has it they were the first unsigned local band to sell out the Crest Theatre\u2019s 975-seat main theater. Vocalist and guitarist Gene Smith, guitarist Sherman Loper, bassist Scott Anderson and drummer Neil Franklin channeled powerful classic-rock bands like Nazareth and Trapeze, while managing to appeal to an alternative crowd. It seemed the band was on the verge of becoming a national sensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an ironic turn that\u2019s almost become a rock clich\u00e9, Kai Kln broke up just as the band\u2019s stars started to align in 1994\u2014much to the chagrin of a few thousand dedicated fans. Family responsibilities and differing priorities made it impossible to sign with one of the many labels courting them. The band sporadically played shows and recorded songs for the next four years, before lapsing into nearly a decade of silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Kai Kln is ready to reunite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc Malakie, the band\u2019s longtime manager and honorary fifth member, was largely responsible for negotiating the band\u2019s upcoming reunion show at Harlow\u2019s this Friday. On the phone from his home in the Bay Area, Malakie was his usual overly enthusiastic self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was an exciting and interesting time for all of us back then,\u201d he said of Kai Kln\u2019s peak in popularity. \u201cWe were regularly contacted by record labels, which, in turn, also opened the door and gave other Sacramento bands the opportunity to be recognized, as well. The interest level grew enormously, yet, unfortunately, it was also the beginning of the end for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur last official gig was opening for [Who bassist] John Entwistle in October \u201998, so we thought a nine-year hiatus was enough,\u201d drummer Franklin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it just takes that long to get everyone on board. \u201cIf there\u2019s anything I\u2019ve learned in this band, it\u2019s that nothing is for sure, except no one will ever be replaced,\u201d Franklin said definitively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExcept if [Black Sabbath\u2019s] Geezer Butler were interested,\u201d he added. \u201cThen Scott would be fired immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the band\u2019s old CDs sell for as much as $49.99 on Amazon.com<\/a>, and a recent sold-out show at San Francisco\u2019s Bottom Of The Hill proved the quartet still has a ravenous fan base. So what\u2019s the secret to writing songs people crave 10 years later?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWriting has always been the same,\u201d Franklin said. \u201cSometimes someone has a song more or less finished and we learn it, or someone has a bucketful of riffs and licks. Then we carefully place them together. Then we overanalyze it, change it, rearrange it, get pissed and break up for nine years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tickets are already on sale for the band\u2019s local reunion, scheduled for April 20 at Harlow\u2019s. And, like any well-planned event, its organizers have an agenda. The Ricky and Del Connection, a band formed by Franklin and Smith after the dissolution of Kai Kln, will open the show as a release party for their now 2-year-old CD Stream of Unconsciousness<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is our best chance to be seen in front of more than our usual 10 or so fans,\u201d Franklin said. \u201cIt seemed like a good idea because Larry Boothroyd [bassist for opening band Triclops!] and Scott both played bass on the album. They will both play with Ricky and Del, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can\u2019t get to Harlow\u2019s this Friday, you might have to wait until Kai Kln plays the Downtown Sacramento Partnership\u2019s Friday Night Concerts in the Park series at Cesar Chavez Plaza on July 13. (Later that night, the band plans to perform a special set of the members\u2019 favorite songs, appropriately dubbed \u201cKai Kovers.”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThings work a lil\u2019 slow \u2019round here,\u201d Franklin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, they sure do. Welcome back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(SN&R)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sacramento rock giants Kai Kln reunite after a nine-year hiatus If you lived in the Sacramento Valley during the early \u201990s, chances are you\u2019ve heard of Kai Kln. Legend has it they were the first unsigned local band to sell out the Crest Theatre\u2019s 975-seat main theater. Vocalist and guitarist Gene Smith, guitarist Sherman Loper, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1063,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062\/revisions\/1063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}