[kj] just got back....

[The Exorcist]

Can I get this in an autographed hardcover edition? :)
(And yes... No need to mention the "pot calling the kettle" here. I admit it.)

At 05:46 AM 5/8/2009, Darren A. Peace wrote:

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>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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