[kj] Milan report

[Brendan]

Okay I need a change of undergarments and moist towelette after that...whew!


> TB ha scritto:

>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YftaHMpQ4II

>>

>> It's horribly clipped due to the volume and I can't for the life of me

>> figure out which song it is.

>>

>

> It's a real shame the sound is so horrible, as SO36 was one of the

> highlights of a fantastic night.

>

> Here's some random thought on the Milan show (first night, 19/9 )

>

> First the obvious question - yes, Big Paul makes all the difference of

> the world. His style is simply so personal, his drumming so much "up

> there" than you can't help feeling that his presence was sorely missed,

> particularly on stage . Which for me is a big personal satisfaction, as

> I've always felt KJ needed Paul, and no one else behind the drums (this

> includes Dave Grohl). Big Paul is Big Paul, as much as - on a completely

> different context - Dave Lombardo is Dave Lombardo.

>

> The boys look in excellent form, particularly Jaz, which is now back in

> a lean & mean top notch shape, very focused, calm, but still with that

> unmistakable thing floating behind the surface. He looks younger than

> I've ever seen in ages. Geordie suffered some minor technical  problem

> in Milan (not his fault) that made the start of the show a bit rambling,

> but once they were solved, he did the amazing guitar work you've come to

> expect from him (I'm really spoiled when it comes to Geordie!).  I

> hand't seen Youth since that  fateful Turin gig back in 1981,  so  I

> can't make comparisons, but live he's simply great. I've already told

> about Big Paul - by the way, he looks like he didn't age one single day

> since the last time I saw him (1989!). Is there a pattern here?

>

> The gig was wonderful. The Rolling Stone club (the last time I saw KJ

> there was 22 years ago!) was packed, very varied attendance in age, sex

> and dressing code. I was there with wife and daughter, and we looked

> like an average Italian family who had simply popped in by mistake - I

> believe some people was REALLY puzzled seeing me wildly dance for the

> entire duration of the gig!

>

> The song list - oh gawd, where do I start? The idea to play the fist

> album and "What's This For" back to back in the order the songs were

> recorded (with some minor variation) turned out to have been excellent.

> The song form a natural progression that begs to be used live. Opening

> grandeur with Requiem, wild (war) dancing with War Dance, two "disco

> from hell" moment with Tomorrow's World (what a cool song!) and

> Bloodsport, then Complications (with Jaz screaming "Pasta price has gone

> up 30%!!!" - everybody laughed), then one of the highlight of the show,

> SO36, great, great song (my daughter was all wide eyed at this point). I

> noticed that "The Wait" was missing, but I just tought about the

> encores, and it was "Primitive feelings, primitive ways" as you may have

> guessed.

>

> The first part of the show has a distinctive happy feeling (albeit

> distinctively malignant!) and make for a great warm up. Eighties was the

> bridge between the first and the part. This was the moment when memories

> of THAT Geneva show in november 1983 (the night they played Eighties

> live for the first time - most amazing gig I've ever seen in my life)

> came almost unexpected. And with that, memories of Raven (but this is

> not the place to talk about this)

>

> I mentioned Geordie's problem with monitors - by this time he was

> starting to get upset, which is always a good thing for his guitar

> playing. So I shouldn't have been surprised when "The Fall of Because"

> LITERALLY hit me like a ton of bricks right in my neck. My daughter

> declares Fall was the greatest moment of the show - I still think the

> entire show was the highest moment of the show, but I can see her point.

> FoB is simply SCORCHING - deadly stuff, and the introduction to the most

> intense sequence of songs world has ever heard. Tension was just

> slightly less brutal, but it may have been just me, because at this

> point my brain was just gone in a state of complete panic - the next

> song, the next song... I've been waiting sooo long to hear it again...

>

> And the next song came - Unspeakable. When the

> wwwwwooooooooooooooohhhhhh of the synth introduction started I wanted to

> scream (well, I did scream, but no one heard me). I couldn't get my eyes

> of Jaz - he really changes when singing this one. Actually, everyone

> changes - it's just like that. When you'll hear it, you'll know why

>

> After that I was thinking - ok, the Butcher. But I didn't recognize the

> intro of the next song, and - knowing that they have brand new stuff

> ready - I thought it was a new song thrown in for good measure. But then

> Jaz started "WHO TOLD YOU HOW WHO TOLD YOU HOW WHO TOLD YOU HOW". I had

> simply forgot about that one! And it was a blast, I had never imagined

> it would sound sooo cool live (and so different!). Memories after this

> get a bit hazy - maybe it was the non stop dancing, maybe the aftershock

> of Unspeakable, don't know. Madness was another highlight (great

> singalong by the crowd), as Exit (complete with dog barking!) and Follow

> The Leader, which in the years as become far, far harder stuff than what

> was recorded in What's This For. And Butcher. Oh boy, Butcher. That's

> another one that live goes a million times better.

>

> Encore time - The Wait (poor, clueless, pitiful Metallica, what DID they

> were thinking?), Changes (more singalong), Are You Receiving, Psyche and

> then, out of the blue.... Asteroid!!!! At this point even I had problems

> keeping the pace, and if they could had "Folks Songs From The Spanish

> Inquisition" instead I would have continued dancing nonetheless, so even

> a song a bit "different" from the rest of the set was welcome and gave

> me a big smile. The crowd was simply mad - they had been sucked into.

> Great, great Killing Joke magic, they're the exclusive on that (Sex

> Pistols in Turin last June was a great experience, but this is simply on

> another level)

>

> The bottom line? Wonderful gig, the amazing band we've always loved in a

> top form, great vibe, great fun, you must not miss it. I know that this

> may sound the rants of an old time gatherer (one of the oldest, I'm

> being told!) and yes, this is precisely what it is - I'm proud of my

> total adoration of these guys and their music. Milan just confirmed all

> I've thought about them. And it's no any nostalgia trip. KJ music at its

> best works now, and is relevant now as it was 30 years ago - my daughter

> is a confirmed techno/electro freak, but she loved every minute of it.

> This almost eternal quality (wich is the trademark of all great

> artistry) is the most treasured feeling I will take with me when I'll

> rememeber this night in Milan.

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