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RFTN |
Be rude not to go. Then some more dates were announced. Sounded like an opportunity for another travelogue.
To be fair, a good bulk of the songs are staples of the band’s normal set. But this would be a chance to hear songs I’ve never heard played live (‘Who Told You How’, ‘Exit’) or haven’t heard for a long time (‘Follow the Leaders’ ‘Are You Receiving’).
The Setlist
Opening with the sound of the funeral of the Western world, ‘Requiem’ is a gloriously apocalyptic sounding number with a pulsating rhythm that cannot help but make the head move. Lines like “When the meaning for words/When they cease to function/When there’s nothing to say/When will it start worrying you” ring with even more meaning in these times of alternative facts.
'Wardance' is a perpetual favourite which never fails to deliver. Tense, staccato and driving, the implications of violence throughout the music compliment the barked vocals, proclaiming a world gone wrong in the most horrendous fashion.
'Tomorrow's World', with its spacious, dub influenced landscape is a moody, atmospheric piece but not one that you would imagine would get the blood pumping on the live front. However, it is these precise qualities that make it such a great live number as it establishes the barren land that Killing Joke often portray in song.
Instrumental ‘Bloodsport’ offers up a mutant incarnation of disco which is just as metallic as it is danceable. Well known due to Metallica covering it, ‘The Wait’ thrashes with punk intensity. The lyrics indulge in imagery of destruction and foreboding before concluding that it is better to stand one’s ground amidst the madness.
‘Complications’ is probably the most conventional ‘singalong’ song on the first album, with a narration that alternates between childlike wonder, existential despair and smug in their knowledge of what is going on.
Named after the infamous venue in Berlin, ‘SO36’ functions as another bleak, atmospheric piece that conjures up imagery of scavengers rooting around burnt out buildings in the hope of some food. Closer ‘Primitive’ ends on a sinister note with the feedback, driving rhythm and lyrics indicating that tribalism is the natural conclusion to everything.
You can read my thoughts on ‘What’s This For…!’
For the encore, ‘Are You Receiving’ finds its way back in the set for the first time since 2008, while old reliables ‘Change’, ‘Turn to Red’ and ‘Pssyche’ bring the proceedings to an epic conclusion.
The Gigs
100 Club, London (09/03/23)
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100 Club Thanks to Gary Walker for the use of the photo. |
In operation for over 80 years, this humble rectangle of a room has seen everyone from Albert King to Subway Sect perform. Offering up everything from bebop to hip hop, it may just be another in a long list of venues to most but, to those who appreciate the incandescent, inescapable pull of competing genres, it is so much more than a venue.
This was (surprisingly) the band’s first performance in the place. With there being no barrier and nowhere to hide, I was anticipating an astonishing gig and got one, with a feedback loop between band and audience, spurring each other on. As a result, it was an aggressive one sonically and performance wise. As a result, songs like ‘Butcher’, with Geordie’s one finger riffing during the chorus, were genuine evocations of dark energy. Plus being so close to Geordie makes you appreciate the power of his guitar and the power of Big Paul’s drumming. It brings to mind Jaz’s claim from 2005 that two hours of Killing Joke on the drums is heavy going.
KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton (10/03/23)
A return after the 2019 fiasco, which was filled with on-stage sound issues leading to a lack of encore, it had been claimed that the venue had not only upgraded their speakers and monitors but had also moved the stage around as well. Although, presumably, these were issues that had emerged at other gigs as well, which is not what you want if you’re running a venue catering to metal fans.
Admittedly, this was never going to scale the heights hit the night before. Nonetheless, it offered a different vibe in the sense that we were (literally) in an old steel mill on the outskirts of the city centre so it had the feel of both an illegal gathering and paying homage to what had come before us. ‘Are You Receiving’ being a highlight not only due to the interplay between Geordie, Youth and Big Paul sounding immense on such a stage but it was worth it to see Geordie and Youth starting off playing two different songs before slowly morphing into ‘Are You Receiving’!
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| Thanks to Jon Hopkins for the use of the photo |
Royal Albert Hall, London (12/03/23)
I must confess, after the 100 Club, this date seemed like it was destined to be an afterthought. Especially after trying to navigate my way through South Kensington where every sign seemed to indicate the venue was only a few stops away, translating to a 20 odd minute walk. However, with the number of Gatherers in the area, it became easy to indicate when I was nearing the place. And the architecture was another dead giveaway.
While it didn’t top the 100 Club, and the sound for the first few minutes were too keyboard heavy, it ended up being an exceptional night at the proms, due to it taking place in such grand surroundings. The more spacious numbers like ‘Tomorrow’s World’ and ‘S036’ worked brilliantly in this setting, while song of the night ‘Butcher’ once again sounded utterly evil. Coupled with some of Mike Coles’ imagery as a backdrop to the songs and it was (as the band once sang) a three dimensional screening of the end of the world.
Conclusion
A new album cannot come soon enough. Long live Jaz, Geordie, Youth and Big Paul.
I must confess, after the 100 Club, this date seemed like it was destined to be an afterthought. Especially after trying to navigate my way through South Kensington where every sign seemed to indicate the venue was only a few stops away, translating to a 20 odd minute walk. However, with the number of Gatherers in the area, it became easy to indicate when I was nearing the place. And the architecture was another dead giveaway.
While it didn’t top the 100 Club, and the sound for the first few minutes were too keyboard heavy, it ended up being an exceptional night at the proms, due to it taking place in such grand surroundings. The more spacious numbers like ‘Tomorrow’s World’ and ‘S036’ worked brilliantly in this setting, while song of the night ‘Butcher’ once again sounded utterly evil. Coupled with some of Mike Coles’ imagery as a backdrop to the songs and it was (as the band once sang) a three dimensional screening of the end of the world.
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| RAH: Thanks to Sonny Tyler for the use of the photo. |
Conclusion
A new album cannot come soon enough. Long live Jaz, Geordie, Youth and Big Paul.
🕮 Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist and author of A Vortex Of Securocrats.
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