[kj] just got back....

[Neil Perry]

Thanks for that. Now I'm even more gutted I couldn't make it. I have long
had an issue with the sound quality at KJ shows - it seems to have gotten
worse as the years have gone by - so to miss one where they manage to
get it right is particularly annoying. (But also good to know that they have
managed it.)

cheers
N

2009/5/8 Darren A. Peace <dpeace at bigfoot.com>


>   OK. Here are my recollections.

>

>

>

> I made it to London and the Tattershal Castle by around 4. Couldn’t see any

> Jokers on the boat unless they were disguised as Sloanes (I thought they’d

> died out) or wankers, so I chatted to some odd-looking people who were

> apparently having a break from filming a crime drama nearby. They seemed

> unimpressed by my offer to be a corpse for them so long as it didn’t take

> more than 20 minutes.

>

>

>

> Then I saw Mr Jonn Chapman, playing under a table with his stash of

> contraband vodka. He was very sensible; the bar prices were extraordinary.

> Lots of Killing Joke t-shirts turned up (although I see from the list that

> several people were there but didn’t find us; that was a shame. Perhaps we

> need a sign to identify ourselves on such occasions, and I suggest flashing

> deely boppers. Oh no – that would make people think we were a hen night. Any

> suggestions?) and we were then treated o the appearance of Mr Stephen

> Lawrence, who had bravely elected to wear full Jaz facepaint. In the event,

> Jaz wasn’t wearing the full mask, so particular plaudits to Mr Lawrence.

>

>

>

> I have long chosen to go to many gigs by myself, and not to meet up with

> lots of people there. Particularly with a band like Killing Joke, I find I

> zone out and am unable to appear anything other than rude to other people,

> and this has worked well over the years. However, having met Mr Chapman, Mr

> Moss, Mr Lawrence and others at the Malicious Damage bash, I realised that

> it was probably about time I saw what these people who I’ve known on the

> list for years are actually like, and it was reassuring that everyone was

> great company.

>

>

>

> We then headed to the venue (involving my doing something I never

> anticipated I would find myself doing, asking someone how I could get to the

> Heaven nightclub); the journey was short, despite an unfortunate incident

> with a cold samosa, and we went inside. Not before the bouncers had picked

> on me as the likely dealer / terrorist and treated me to a full cavity

> search, however; I had a half-eaten finger roll in my trouser pocket, and as

> Mr Bouncer found it during his enthusiastic patting I was treated to pursed

> lips and raised eyebrows.

>

>

>

> Merchandise stall was heaving with PlasticHead stuff; nothing new apart

> from the Forum live CD box, which I’m not going to buy at that price as I’ve

> got the DiscLive ones. Maybe when I see it cheap somewhere.

>

>

>

> Bob noted that Faith Healer had started up almost as soon as we got inside

> ( iad, however, noted my favourite poster f the night : “Gay Wii Party”), so

> we went as far forward as we could; the place was packed. Then it started.

>

>

>

> I have been getting increasingly disappointed with the Requiem / Wait /

> Wardance / Pssyche axis of KJ setlists; they have so many fantastic songs

> they could play that it seems a shame to squander them. However, the sound

> was FANTASTIC – we were by speakers towards the back (more used to pumping

> out Erasure, as it were) and they were excellent. So the most familiar parts

> of the setlist were as exciting and vital as I have heard them in years.

>

>

>

> This is for two reasons, in my view. I have liked many of KJ’s history of

> exploding drummers (Benny being a particular favourite of mine), but BPF is

> unparalleled. Even the Pandy tracks I wasn’t convinced by at the Forum were

> transformed. And Youth.

>

>

>

> I see KJ as two separate entities. The Raven KJ were serious and

> no-nonsense, almost menacing. Youth KJ has humour, playfulness and more of a

> sense of fun. And to echo other sentiments here, the bass was magnificent.

> Youth is looser and (ugh) *groovier*, and this adds a whole new dimension

> to the usual tracks. Even LLB was funkier.

>

>

>

> Jaz appeared to be wearing either  Beatles wig or a Cossack hat, and has a

> very impressive Colgate smile (perhaps dentures?). Geordie was

> Thunderbird-hatted, and playing with his usual oxymoronic louche urgency.

> I’ve not hear this band so tight and focussed for years. The performance was

> significantly better than the Forum dates, in my view, and I’m now

> vacillating even harder about Blackpool.

>

>

>

> There was no opportunity to pester the band afterwards, as we were all

> marched out so the venue could be prepared for the World Record fisting

> attempt scheduled for eleven. We did, therefore, have time to go for a drink

> afterwards, which was a great way to round things off. I was particularly

> pleased to meet The Stranger (from this list) and Miss Frenzy (from the

> Killing Joke forums), as they were the people who flew from New York for the

> gig, and I admire that degree of focus and dedication!

>

>

>

> It was a great pleasure to meet everyone, including Milinda, Jonn again,

> Bob Barathy, Ade, Stephen again, Laughing Chris, Antoni, Jane, Adam,

> Jessica, Woody, and everyone else. There were some people I would have liked

> to meet who couldn’t make it, but perhaps another time.

>

>

>

> Interestingly, I met on my train back to Reading (my car had not been

> broken into, for those with long memories) a fellow sporting a Devo hoodie.

> Turned out he’d just been to the gig at the Forum, which I could have gone

> to had it not been for KJ. Turns out the Devo set was short (just the first

> album – nothing new at all) and rather lack-lustre. So the only nagging

> doubt in my head about the evening was also cleared up.

>

>

>

> I’m really pleased to have gone, and Rob? You missed a good one, mate.

>

>

>

> Blackpool. Hmm.

>

>

>

> Darren

>

> Hungerford, UK

>

>

>

>

>

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>

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