[kj] KILLING JOKE / THE IMBECILES – O2 INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM, SATURDAY 02ND APRIL 2022 (Maximum Volume Music)

[Paul]

https://maximumvolumemusic.com/killing-joke-the-imbeciles-o2-institute-birmingham-saturday-02nd-april-2022/


*KILLING JOKE / THE IMBECILES – O2 INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM, SATURDAY 02ND
APRIL 2022*BY DAMIAN SULLIVAN - APRIL 4, 2022

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*It`s over three years since I last saw Killing Joke on what was then the
`Laugh At Your Peril 40th Anniversary World Tour` at this same venue and
forty one years since I first witnessed  their power and intensity in a
live setting.*
First up tonight is Anglo – American quintet The Imbeciles whose album
`Imbecilica` came out last month and was indeed produced by KJ`s very own
Youth. We get a few cuts from this album tonight as the guys kick off  with
the rolling `Name Of the Rose` before the edgy rock out of `It`s Not About
You` is belted out. We have the catchy `Tiny Blue People` a quite grungy
number about the duality of American middle-class society and the
delightful psychedelic earworm of  `You`re Gonna Wanna`. The mid paced and
quite dreamy `I Won`t Let You Down` is shared before this half hour set is
closed out with the blistering `I`m Not the One` The lady next to me said
these sound a little like Queens Of the Stone Age and they probably do a
little on reflection, which is no bad thing. I think they shouted something
about being back real soon and on the strength of tonight`s performance
it`ll be a gig that will definitely be on my radar.

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What I’d call the classic line up of Killing Joke Jaz Coleman, Kevin
“Geordie Walker”, Youth (Martin Glover) and Paul Ferguson hit the stage and
it`s straight into `Love Like Blood` which was a top twenty hit which had
the sadly missed local lad Paul Raven on bass. I saw Paul a few times when
he was in probably Wolverhampton`s  first punk band Neon Hearts so it was
quite moving to hear the band open with this number. `Wardance` and `The
Fall of Because` sends this packed crowd into a frenzy and i`m glad i`m now
too old to be in the middle of the mosh circle that formed at the front.
The potency continues with the pounding  `I Am The Virus` and the more
sedate but no less powerful `Requiem` as Jazz commands the audience with
his menacing presence as his stalks the stage.

The show continues with a mixture of tracks from EP`s and albums across the
band`s career with some numbers I really love like `We Have Joy` from
Revelations, the hypnotic `Turn to Red` and the ferocious `Loose Cannon`.
They close out the gig with two absolute belters with `The Wait` and the
potent `Pssyche`.

We don`t have to wait long before the guys return and offer up the
strangely captivating and almost unrelenting `The Pandys are Coming` and
the wonderfully mesmerising `Change` which takes on a whole new dimension
live. We head home with the stunning `Pandemonium` ringing in our ears and
our subconscious. I was still humming “I can see tomorrow, I can see the
world to come, I can see tomorrow, Hear the pandemonium” on the bus home
half an hour after the show had finished.

As I said last time and maybe every time I see Killing Joke and I still
stand by it. Killing Joke gigs aren`t just a gig but an event, a coming
together of like-minded people to enjoy an evening being in the presence of
a powerful, menacing, entrancing, and brooding cacophony of music with
intriguing and thought provoking lyrics. There is no other band to me who
come anywhere near.

Long may this continue.
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