Like its southern counterpart, North by Northeast is fast becoming known for its unofficial side events, whether daytime BBQs or night-time beer blasts. So as the 15th NXNE kicked off, Vice Canada took over the lakeside Amsterdam Brewery to stage the first official performance by the Almighty Defenders, a collaboration between two of the fest's finest live acts: Atlanta, Ga. garage-rockers Black Lips and Berlin-based, Canadian-born garage-rockers King Khan and BBQ Show.

After a retro-rock DJ set from Black Lips' Ian St. Pe, some hipster swing dancing, and a blistering, if unintelligible, performance by one-man band Bloodshot Bill (who essentially boiled Eddie Cochran down to guttural yelps and howls and guitar riffs), the Almighty Defenders hit the beer warehouse stage dressed like refugees from 'Sister Act 2.'
Being their first show, the results were pretty shambolic (an organizer told Spinner they performed a full set at sound check "because they needed the practice"). They hooted, hollered and crooned in cracked harmonies while knocking out raw riffs and head-sticky hooks.

This supergroup, which joined forces in Berlin when the Lips wound up in King Khan's hometown after their naked onstage antics got them kicked out of India last January, bills itself as "evil gospel" -- hence the church choir gowns. Though aside from some hands-in-the-air testifying and soulful vocals, the Almighty Defenders' sound didn't veer that far from the two bands' usual garage revivalism.

Not that there was anything wrong with that, since the boys continue to inject so much in-the-moment enthusiasm and go-for-broke attitude into their old-school music. We'll have to wait until September before their first record drops to get a real handle in their songs, but from the sounds of this first gig the Almighty Defenders already have God on their side. Or the devil. Whatever works.