[kj] Killing Joke + Turbowolf @ UEA LCR 14 November 2018 (Norwich Blog)

[Paul]

https://norwichblog.com/2018/11/20/killing-joke-turbowolf-uea-lcr-14-november-2018/

Killing Joke + Turbowolf @ UEA LCR 14 November 2018
<https://norwichblog.com/2018/11/20/killing-joke-turbowolf-uea-lcr-14-november-2018/>
Posted on November 20, 2018 by shashamane

This gig set a new record for me, the longest time-span between my seeing a
band for the first and second time, some 36 years since an unforgettable –
and memorably loud – Killing Joke gig in the same venue in October of 1982.
I think Danse Society were support that day.

[image: killing joke]

Upon arrival it was disappointing to discover that Phobophobes, who were
listed on the billing, would not now be playing but soon discovered that it
was for reasons of a band member’s family bereavement so this was
completely understandable and accepted with sympathies for all concerned.
They even had the good grace respond to a fan’s disappointment by offering
on social media a ticket to a gig of the choice of said fan.

Opening up the night then was *Turbowolf*, a band I’d heard great things
about and plenty of recommendations. They were loud and with a charismatic
showman of a singer but I’m not sure if it was the venue or what but they
largely failed to connect with this crowd at all other than a couple of
dozen people down at the front. Matters were made worse when the singer
tried to make that connection by asking us “What’s great about Norwich?!”
I was somewhat irked when someone responded “F-ck all!” and it was all
downhill from there really, tellingly the floor filled up considerably as
soon as they ended their set.  I’m not down on them at all, I just think
the venue and wrong audience worked against them, few seemed in the mood to
give them much of chance but I felt they could be amazing in a much smaller
space playing to their own sort of crowd, it just wasn’t happening for them
here and there was a lot of space on the floor. To their great credit they
still put everything into the set and played for those few at the front who
were digging their brand of psych rock.

The return to Norwich of *Killing Joke* was something I’d really built up
in my head as they were certainly the loudest band I had yet heard when
they played the LCR in 1982, my ears were ringing for days after but the
gig was memorable for much more than that, they were simply colossal and
magnificent.  So why it has taken me 36 years to see them again? That is a
total mystery and I have regretted ever since not seeing them at the
Waterfront in 2012.

[image: killing joke]

This tour is celebrating 40 years of Killing Joke, I was expecting a
sell-out crowd but it was probably only just over half full, many people
surely priced out by the £31 ticket but I actually prefer the LCR with that
sort of audience size, it still has plenty of atmosphere and doesn’t feel
so overcrowded that it takes fifteen minutes to get to the bar or the loos
and back.  Anyway, the band opened with Unspeakable, what a way to start!
I expect we have more restrictions on decibel levels these days or, quite
possibly, my hearing isn’t what it was but this felt to me nowhere near as
loud as I remembered them all those years ago but still pretty impressive
and it was amazing to see this classic line-up of Jaz, Geordie, Youth, and
Paul. They all seemed really up for it and into it too, Jaz every bit as
intense and captivating as he ever was, in a black boiler suit, face-paint,
a mass of black hair and those penetrating, searing eyes which were surely
visible from anywhere in the room.

[image: killing joke]

There’s an intensity and dark menace that feels like it is soundtracking
the end of days, which I have always loved about Killing Joke and their
setlist covering no less than 18 songs did not disappoint. It spanned their
career and had a good helping from those early albums that I love so much.
It was a treat to again hear in a live setting the likes of Requiem,
Eighties, Pssyche, Follow the Leaders and you can’t go wrong with an encore
of Love Like Blood, Wardance, and Pandemonium.  They still play with the
same passion and intensity as ever and certainly still feel relevant.
Killing Joke were good, very good and there were plenty of people going
nuts down the front and although I enjoyed it I couldn’t help feeling a bit
disengaged from it all for some reason, in all likelihood because I had
built it all up way too much in my head, I hadn’t been so excited for a gig
in a while. So, very good and impressive but not the classic I was wanting
but that’s usually the way with the weight of expectation and so it’s
unlikely to be one I will be reminiscing about in the same way as I do
about seeing them as an eighteen year old in 1982 in 36 years time should I
make it that far. That’s not putting down this gig, it’s highlighting just
what an indelible impression they made on me the first time.



@RShashamane
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