Anyone else go? The band was amazing. They stuck to their biggest hits and didn’t go for too many deep cuts (unfortunately), but overall it was a great show. The opening band, Czar, was pretty good, too, like a sped-up Godflesh.
Setlist the same as the European ones? Seeing them for the first time on the 4th and can’t wait.
Geordie is the coolest most bad-ass guitarist on the planet.
Amazing show last night!!! Energy was great, band was great! Went to the afterparty where Youth and Reza spun for a bit… was a ton of fun!!!
Playing some deep cuts last night would have been nice… but the setlist was definitely top-notch…
Going to the Chicago show next Sat. Lil birthday present to myself. Can’t wait ! Thanks for the preview. Playing the Empty bottle. Great lil venue!
I posted this on last.fm (http://www.last.fm/user/BartGeneral) but wanted to leave it here too. Seems there’s several other KJ fans in the house.
Ten years of fandom later, seeing Killing Joke happened for me last night.
About three years ago the band was scheduled for Brick by Brick and cancelled due to “illness”. Similar to mysterious circumstances with another favorite band who had cancelled after buying tickets ([Einstürzende Neubauten on a rare US jaunt), I got soured on their music until my suspicions could be proven wrong. I remember during this time they started getting crass with their merchandising, making it more focal than giving American fans what they wanted - some shows! Then Jaz disappeared with no explanation for days. Hearing about his antics opening for The Cult only made him appear the primadonna instead of the principled artiste press released would have us believe.
Historical context. What’s crucial to write about Killing Joke is how pivotal their early music was in the wake of punk. Being a mid-80s child and growing up during the dawn of when industrial soundscapes became mainstreamed into modern rock, these same sounds became formative to my idea of what propelled great driving music. It took me several years to understand Al Jourgensen didn’t invent the wheel. That wheel of aggro tribal kinetic punk energy held fast by thick guitars and mechanical rhythm. Bold new Ideas come from somewhere, and to me Killing Joke has almost always been the post-punk band d’jour - advancing the groundwork set on their groundbreaking debut with melodies, orchestral pomp, new wave melancholia and eventually finding a sound all their own. If anyone can find me a band/record that points the way to Killing Joke '80 or the equally brilliant What’s THIS For…! from the same period, I’d love to hear it. .Getting into their music in '03 and almost ten studio albums to explore was infinitely rewarding. Even the lesser received albums where they explored a synth driven lusher sound had deep cuts I really enjoy. The band themselves seem the first to realize their influence and in my estimation have expectation to fulfill with the brand they’ve cultivated. Did Jaz and “the other guys” put their money where their mouths are? This Saturday, May the 4th, friends and I witnessed the self proclaimed pioneers themselves and we were about to find out…
Their performance was inspiring. Maybe more than I could expect a band thirty years old to be. That might be an asshole statement but I’m leaving it. How many bands 30+ years bring this enthusiasm to their songs? Jaz Coleman is a guy with a storied history, and even without knowing it he leaves impressions with performance and command of the subjects of which he infuses Killing Joke’s music. Beers were raised at the iconic keyboard drones of “Requiem”. The energy didn’t wane until “European Super State”, a newer song maybe unfamiliar to some and picked up quickly during “Eighties” and went into a stretch of faster tempo aggressive songs (“Money is Not our God” being a huge highlight, that song is devastating live) that kept me and everyone else around me happy as hell. The crowd interaction during “Asteroid” was another excellent way to turn a great song into a rousing one. I would have liked to hear more from their second self titled album from '03.
Billed the “Singles 1979-2012 Tour” the setlist delivered many fan favorites and a few deep cuts, performed with conviction of a band nowhere near their advancing years. Youth and Geordie smoked a lot and looked respectively beach boy and beatnik. The crowd was a diverse bunch, and it was great fun to mix it up with people there seemingly for the love of the band’s music even if was a Saturday night.
Cheers to the Joke in 2013 and to them showing up on our shows sooner than when they hit the big 4-0.
Setlist:
“Requiem”
“Turn to Red”
“Wardance”
“European Super State”
“The Beautiful Dead”
“Chop-Chop”
“Madness”
“Sun Goes Down”
“Eighties”
“Money is Not our God”
“Whiteout”
“Asteroid”
“The Wait”
“Pandemonium”
“Change”
“Pssyche”