MrDM: I attended this concert on a lark. A Tuesday...nothing to do...got $8 burning a hole in my pocket. The only drawback? Sabala's likes to wait until nearly 10:30-11:00PM before starting their concerts! I don't know why the hell they have to do this...I gotta get up for work in the morning! Oh well, I've gotten used to it by now.

I'd heard the name Android Lust bandied about on very webpages and message-boards. I had never really checked them out before, but by the magic of the internet I was able to listen to some clips and check out some of their past material. It is not traditionally the type of band I would really listen to; I am a fan of more of the heavy and harsher stuff, whereas Android Lust tend to hover around the more ethereal side of things. The strongest element of AL is definitely their lead singer Shikhee. All I can say is--the girl's got range! Although she dwells in more of the breathy/shoegazey vocal spectrum, she can switch things up quiet easily when the song demands it.

Opening this particular show was a one-man project called Sonic Alchemy. For the most part it was vox-less sample-heavy industrial chill music. Not heavy enough to stomp to, but not mellow enough to put you to sleep either. For the most part it was fairly capable, but the thing that annoyed me about many of the songs were the overusage of some extremely overexposed samples from well-mined sci-fi movies such as 2001 and Blade Runner. I hate to break it to you SA, but this kinda stuff was over and done with twenty years ago. Time for a fresh approach?

Zonewire was up next, and I had seen them once before opening for Flesh Field. Their set grew on me quiet a bit more this time around. They have a fairly diverse approach, mixing traditional guitar and bass with electronic flurishes and oil drum percussion. Lots of varied vocal processing keep things interesting as well. Some of their tunes are straight-ahead EBM dancefloor fodder while others boarder into the rock arena. They've ALMOST got me convinced to invest in some of their CDs. Maybe next time!

Android Lust finally hit the stage, and they put on a very compelling show. Most of the crowd seemed pretty into their stuff as they concentrated mainly on their latest full-length The Dividing and their new EP Dragonfly. Although this is a heavily-electronic band, Android Lust did a good job actually performing their music rather than letting most of it run off of their synth. Shikhee could have perhaps interacted a bit more with the crowd to get them into the gig--but maybe that's just her style.

One irrelevant side observation: Shikhee is TINY. 80lbs soaking wet I'll bet, and even with her massive platform boots I bet she wasn't more than 5'5.

All in all, I'd recommend catching them in concert, especially if you are a fan of the band. Their new EP would be a good place to start if you want to taste-test their stuff.
MrDM: My first concert. What can I say? I was young and naive! (Actually, I still like this band. Very original new-wave party weirdness). This was for their "Cosmic Thing" tour, which is when the band broke into mainstream popularity. Unfortunately, they never could follow up on this success and quickly faded into obscurity. I believe their stuck doing state fairs and nostalgia package tours at this point.
MrDM: This was the first "festival" event I attended. Several great diverse bands on the tour. Live was just starting to gain momentum with their "Mental Jewelry" album. Blind Mellon was getting major recognition with their "Bumblebee Girl" video for "No Rain." Big Audio Dynamite II was a reworking of Mick Jones' earlier band Big Audio Dynamite. They went a far more mainstream route and I still hear some of their songs attached to commercials and such. Originally, the band was more of a Pop Will Eat Itself sample-fest. The highlight of this show however was John Lydon and Public Image Limited. Their latest disc "That Which Is Not" (whose cover sported a vagina-esque image) wasn't that great, but Lydon's performance was amazing. You definitely saw flashes of his Johnny Rotten persona shining through--berating the audience and almost getting into a fight with someone who spat on him (which was a staple of Sex Pistols shows).

MrDM: Bauhaus was one of the first bands I discovered in college and has remained a hugely influential force in my personality and musical tastes. Although they are considered one of the founders of what is known as "goth" music with their lead-off single "Bela Lugosi's Dead," it would truly be difficult them to classify them as a goth band ironically enough. Sure, they had their moments of darkness and creepiness, but to my ears they were more of an arty post-punk band influenced by glamsters such as Bowie and T-Rex more than anything else. In fact, truth be known their cover of "Ziggy Stardust" is in my opinion superior sounding than the original! And to illustrate the raw talent this band contains, each member has gone on to relative solo success and form bands that had even greater mainstream popularity than Bauhaus did. It's a long list: Dali's Car, Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets, The Jazz Butcher and Messy. Collecting everything these guys have done can be a real chore! Unfortunately I got into Bauhaus a few years after the disbanded with "Burning From The Inside." Over the years, I have had the pleasure of witnessing Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash and Love & Rockets all in concert and have immensely enjoyed each of them. Bauhaus finally reunited back in 2000 for the "Resurrection Tour," which I sadly missed. I spent the subsequent years kicking myself for doing so, but recently became elated when I discovered Bauhaus was touring AGAIN, and would even probably be working on an album in the near future. Desperate to make up for my earlier faux pas, I actually bought tickets to both the Seattle AND the Portland show.

For a visual record of the Seattle trip, check out this link.

Unfortunately, neither venue hosting the show allowed photography--so I'll just have to describe it in my own words. First of all, Seattle's Paramount Theater is a very elegant and ornate edifice which is befitting an artsy band such as this. The acoustics were of course wonderful as it was designed for that purpose, and the lighting was especially powerful due to the large stage and room they had to work with. No opening band--straight to the main course! They started the show with some protracted bass rumblings which metamorphasized into "Burning From The Inside." Now I should have guessed this song would be featured as a lyric from it was used on Bauhaus' website to describe the tour ("we'll be near the atmosphere"), but I was still surprised because this album was largely ignored on the previous tour. An awesome, slowly building song that climaxes in an orgasmic fashion. Quite a satisfying start--I really did need a cigarette after that (and I don't even smoke!) There were plenty of old favorites such as "She's In Parties," "Dark Entries," and "God In An Alcove," but I was amazed at some of the more obscure gems they had on display like "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores," "Stigmata Martyr" and "Swing The Heartache." A nice mixture of comfortable "hits" with some of the more fringe-ish material. The setlist for both shows was exactly the same:

Burning From the Inside
She's In Parties
Dark Entries
God In An Alcove
Rosegarden Funeral of Sores
Stigmata Martyr
Terror Couple Kill Colonel
Hair Of The Dog
Hollow Hills
In Fear of Fear
Kick In the Eye
The Passion of Lovers
Silent Hedges
Swing The Heartache

Encore 1:

Slice of Life
Telegram Sam

Encore 2:

Bela Lugosi's Dead

...with ONE major exception: in Portland, they played Ziggy Stardust during the first encore! And why was this? Well, I'll tell you--even those the Roseland Theater is a smaller and acoustically-crappy place to play, the crowd was a million times more enthusiastic than the Seattle show. Interestingly, it seemed that there was far less of the "goth fashion show" thing going on in P-Town than C-attle. I don't know if that is a comment on the "scene" or a reflection of style over substance, but I was at both shows at that is what I witnessed. I could see Peter Murphy look over to the side of the stage to indicate Ziggy was going to be played with a look on his face of "this crowd kicks ass--let's play another!"

The boys all looked in good shape despite being middle-aged--and they sounded better than ever. I am really interested to see what a new Bauhaus album would sound like over 15 years apart. All the band members have gone in distinctly different directions, but commonly they have embraced more of the pop aspect of music than the weird and esoteric vibe which is Bauhaus. Will they try and duplicate their older sound or just write what comes natural to them? I breathlessly await the results...
MrDM: An interesting concept: a "band" which is really one guy putting together music on a computer composed mostly of programmed loops, beats and samples; how would this translate to a live setting? I'd already heard the buzz that Combichrist completely kick ass in concert. I was really to see if they lived up to the hype!

To start things off, we had a noise/performance art type of show. Not being a fan of the avant garde stuff (dissonance instead of melody? Bleah...) I pretty much tuned this out. However, things did get interesting with the fire-breathers and performers put on a little show involving igniting various body parts and extinguishing it with a flaming bullwhip. Never seen that before! Very captivating.

Finally we got to some actual music. Glis and Manufactura joined forces onstage to perform songs from their respective reportoires. For whatever reason, I was more into Manufactura last time I saw them with Flesh Field. It was more of a coherent set that had a good flow. In this iteration, the songs seemed to be lacking in energy and the vocals didn't seem to be very inspired. He should really ditch them altogether in my opinion. Glis was moderately entertaining, but not really sounding anything like they do on their latest CD. On there, they go for a more melodic and cleaner approach to the vocals; mellow, synthpoppy stuff music-wise. In concert, they were going more the Suicide Commando route with a harsh EBM set that got the crowd swaying a bit but never fully engaged.

After the warm-up acts had their say, we were finally treated to the opening strains of "This Shit Will Fuck You Up." Andy, the lead singer burst forth with riot-inducing energy and managed to whip the small crowd into a frenzy in short order. Despite the fact the songs were extremely repetitive and often lengthy, Andy's stage antics were sufficient to keep the crowd entertained. Fake blood finally made an appearance and "blessings" were administered to the foreheads of the fans lining the front of the stage. Most of the tracks were from Combichrist's latest "Everyone Hates You," with a couple from their debut "Joy of Gunz." This show was definitely an exercise of style over substance, but damn was it fun! Concerts are more about creating a visual component to the music that helps make a more visceral experience than just listening to the CD. That's why I never understand rock bands that just lazily shoegaze while stoically churning out song after song; the audience is there to participate in the experience, and it is the job of the lead singer to draw them in. Combichrist succeeds in this area better than most bands.

After the show, Andy jumped off stage and bought around a dozen shots for his fans. Nice! A class act all the way.
MrDM: This show took place at a very elegant venue--the Aladdin Theater. I'd never been there before. Definitely an older, more sophisticated crowd. It was assigned seating, and most sat politely for the majority of the show. The show was interesting mainly because the band was composed of Servo and Mike Peoples from one of my favorite bands, 16 Volt. Servo played a role in doing some drumming and programming on Ash's latest album, and ended up recruiting Peoples as a bass player due to their bassist getting into a horrible car accident. I think Ash played some Tones on Tail and Bauhaus tunes as well.
MrDM: I wasn't overly-interested in going to this show, but one of my friends was a big Depeche Mode fan...so I decided to go with. The solo album Gahan was touring behind was so-so, but he more than made up for that with the Depeche Mode tunes he played. He's still a very competent front man and performer. I saw Gahan with Depeche Mode back on the Violator tour, and was impressed with his work back then as well.
MrDM: Heh, this festival was so long ago and can't even remember all of the bands that played it. I do remember the legendary LA punk band X, Social Distortion, Helmet and They Might Be Giants. I wish I could verify who all was there--even Google comes up empty in this respect. The main memory I have from this show was Helmet's ear-bleeding set composed mostly of tracks from their brilliant "Meantime" album. Probably the loudest concert I've ever seen. I was literally deaf for at least three days afterwards. I'm positive my hearing was permanently crippled from this show. Definitely worth it though!
MrDM: The best thing about this show was I got to see two of my favorite bands for the first time ever: Hanzel Und Gretyl (note the typo!) and Hate Dept. As an added bonus, we also got Voodou, Dismantled and Railer for a mere $12. Can't beat that with a stick! HuG had just released their comeback album "Uber Alles" after being stuck in a record label dispute for years. All that pent-up anger seemed to come out in this show, and they rocked harder than just about any band I've seen. Hate Dept was amazing as well, and I ever got a chance to say hi to Seibold after the show. I bought my beloved Hate Dept shirt there, which always gets a good reaction (as well as "the bird" from Seibold and a compliment from the leader singer of Voodou during a Pigface show). Voodou dissolved shortly after this, but Michelle Walters subsequently hooked up with Seibold to form the project Supersport.
MrDM: The ticket says Imperative Reaction are the headliners--but truth be told, I think most people at Sabala's that night were there to see Flesh Field. The evening started with a local band called Zonewire. I wasn't quite sure what to make of them as they were all over the place musically. Normally I don't mind stylistically variety, but they didn't seem to have a particular vibe I could key in on. At times they wanted to be a heavy EBM band and others something more akin to coldwave. Perhaps I'll have to listen further to develop more of an opinion. Flesh Field were next, and immediately you could feel the electricity in the air as the opening strains (pun intended) of "Uprising" began to play and the crowd gathered in close. Although a four piece, the guitarist and keyboardist of Flesh Field remained in the background while frontpersons Ian Ross and Wendy Yanko commanded the stage. Ross contorted and writhed like a man possessed, viscerally channelling the lyrics angst on his songs; Wendy stood in eye of the human hurricane while adding her distinctive lyrical talents to the top of the mix. Ian had related to me prior to the show his concerns of the sound quality after a less-than-successful soundcheck--but everything sounded perfectly find to these ears. (Ian's vocals were a little low in the mix compared to Wendy's but I think that was more due to his being out of breath from bouncing around the stage). The set primarily consisted of cuts from the two most recent albums Strain and Belief Control, although they did end with the classic "Cyberchrist" off of Viral Extinction. Some memorable moments: Wendy looking at Ian in obvious amusement at his antics, the forgotten first verse of one of the songs and Ian's sharing of the mic and getting into the pit for a little impromptu moshing. The final group of the night was Imperative Reaction. Vocally, Ted Phelps put on the brilliant show; the guy has genuine talent when it comes to singing. As far as the songs go, I think IR is a little too sedate and pop-oriented for my tastes. I did really enjoy their rendition of their "Arrgoance"--the opening track from their newest Redemption (I wished they'd write more songs like that!) Perhaps the biggest highlight of the night came when Flesh Field joined Imperative Reaction on stage for an encore consisting of a song from each of the respective band's catalog as well as a cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Heresy." The latter was a real crowd pleaser, and personally I thought it sounded even better than Trent's version. In the end, I'd say this concert was a pretty fulfilling experience and a great value at $8! I understand Imperative Reaction are going to be opening for VNV Nation on their tour for "Matter and Form"--so be sure to watch from them there. I don't believe Flesh Field have immediate plans for additional dates at this point, but one hopes they'll be able to put something together in the near future for all their fans.
Mr DM: Maybe I'm getting old, but I almost don't have the tolerance to see four bands in one night. I showed up at 9PM, thinking that they get the two openers out of the way when the doors opened at 8PM. NOPE. First I secured a nice front-row position behind the baracade in the beer garden section so I could get a clear close-up view of the band and not be subjected to the ravages of elbow-throwing hooligans. The show began with a quasi-EMO/hardcore(?) band called The Hunches. I dunno...the music was nice and loud and full of cool guitar feedback, but the lead singer had some kind of Ian Astbury/Iggy Pop fetish with his spastic drugged-out mannerisms, bad haircut and women's overcoat. He spent much of his time writhing on the ground in the middle of the crowd whilst screaming his head off. It was a minor miracle all of the punk rockers didn't take that opportunity to stomp him into oblivion.

Melvin's drummer Dale Crover brought us back to reality with his metal/noize band Altamont. A weird mixture of 70's metal, quirky samples, feedback galore and rampant experimentation, they were a sight to behold. Crover drew a laugh from me when he remarked that someone had recognized him earlier and told him that "you got fat!" His reply: "so did Elvis." Best comeback ever. This was probably the first time I've ever seen a Ukulele used in a metal tune. The end of their set was a horribly long distortion-fest that eventually segued in The Melvins playing an opening collection of songs. My best guesses as to the tunes, as the volume was so incredibly loud it was difficult to pick them out:

Magic Pig Detective
Hooch
Night Goat
Pigs of the Roman Empire
Amazon
Let it All Be
The Bloated Pope

Houdini is probably my favorite Melvins record, so I was very happy to see a couple of my favorite songs from that get played. And I have to say, the pit was incredibly active during their stint. I felt sorry for any kid caught in that melee!

Finally Jello Biafra hopped up on stage, and the Melvins donned ski masks (which was a nice tribute to Jello, giving him the focus of the crowd's attention). I had seen Jello once before play a short 3-song encore with Ministry on their last tour, but this time around it seemed he had even MORE energy than before. For an old guy, he can really bounce around! I counted at least four stage dives on his part, and the crowd was quite gracious to return him in the state his arrived in. Patented Biafra rants punctuated some of the songs; an especially good one preceeded "Yuppie Cadillac." His view: if you can't justify driving one of these incredible gas hogs (i.e. living out in the sticks with unpaved roads), he suggested all of the owners travel to Iraq to "get their own goddamn oil." "California Uber Alles" was nicely updated for the Conservative joke Arnold Schwarzenegger, and many Dead Kennedy's songs made an appearance. Lard's "Forkboy" was a pleasant surprise. I especially loved the Wesley Willis cover "Rock and Roll McDonalds" to finish things off. Here's the entire setlist I was able to cull:

Plethysmograph
McGruff the Crime Dog
When Ya Get Drafted
California Über Alles
I Am the Owl
Forkboy
Yuppie Cadillac
Voted Off The Island
Chemical Warfare
Caped Crusader
Lessons In What Not To Become
Bleed for Me
Lighter side of Global Terrorism

Encore:

Rock & Roll McDonalds
Holiday In Cambodia

Super-loud and a super-fun show. My hearing is completely shot. Jello still has the bile to spew and the will to fight back against the oppresive government state which is slowly whittling away our basic civil rights. You know, when I first heard Jello's stuff I considered him a bit of a crackpot/paranoid/tinfoil hat type. Now that Dubya and his cronies have taken control, however, I find that much of what he has been saying over the years has been shockingly prophetic. Jello also made the keen observation that we really operate now under a ONE party system masquerading as a two party system. We see no outrage from Kerry or Hillary Clinton at the stuff going on in the country or Iraq or Guantanamo Bay. As he said, the only thing between them and our Constitutional rights is US. The politicians ain't gonna do it for us. Time to take a stand now!
MrDM: This show was a no-brainer; the chance to see legendary punk band Killing Joke for a mere $15? I felt I was ripping them off for the amount of entertainment I would receive. I'd see the band once before during the Pandemonium tour (whose namesake album featured the semi-breakout hit "Millenium"). Shamefully, not many people showed up to see these guys. This is one of those bands who are hugely influential, but have yet to receive their proper due for the material they've put out there for the masses to consume. Their newest disc (interestingly titled "Killing Joke," as their first album) was one of the first album I'd heard featuring anti-George W. Bush songs. It seems often when things get politically asinine in the world, punk bands often rise to the challenge and put out fantastic adreneline-fueled and politically-changed albums. This was definitely one of them. Oh yeah--Jaz Coleman was dressed as some kind of Spider-worshipping warlock. As weird as it was, this guy has stage presence in truckloads.
MrDM: This ticket is from one of the two KMFDM shows I experienced that year for the Nihil tour (Nihil being arguably KMFDM's best album ever). The setlist was pretty much identical on both tours, but it was well worth the money to experience this album performed live twice. The main reason for this was the re-installation of Raymond Watts (Pig) as frontman after a lengthy absence from the band (way back to the "Don't Blow Your Top" days). The only thing better than seeing Watts perfom KMFDM songs is seeing him do Pig songs--which he did when he opened for KMFDM during the Symbols tour. Fantastic show. With proper exposure, he could have easier overshadowed Trent Reznor as the mainstream industrial frontman du jour.
MrDM: As I mentioned previously, this ticket was for the Symbols tour--which was probably KMFDM's last great album. Not only did we get Raymond Watts fronting on songs, we also got Ogre from Skinny Puppy! Being unfamiliar with Skinny Puppy at the time, I didn't even recognize the guy at that point--but fortunately I quickly got up to speed with his important band. I'm missing quite a few tickets from KMFDM, because I know I've seen them at least five times: 1) Angstfest with Chemlab and Sister Machine Gun (!!!) for the Angst album, 2) first Nihil tour; 3) second Nihil tour; 4) Attak tour; 5) Sturm Und Drang tour. Despite my love for the band, I didn't bother with the WWIII tour last time around. I would've went if Raymond had performed as Pig, but since that wasn't happening I really wasn't interested. Simple put, KMFDM is not a really visually interesting band live unfortunately.
BB: This was a spectacular show, and my first time seeing KMFDM. It was the second date of their first tour since they had reformed, and I think expectations were running pretty high for all involved. I went with several of my friends who of course, were all big time KMFDM fans. I remember the venue being completely loaded and full of black t's and jangling wallet chains. The set was a nice mix of some of Pig's best tunes (well my favs anyways) and KMFDM songs. The big surprise for my friends and I was 16 Volt. We'd heard of them once or twice before but had never really listened to them. We pretty much had expected them to be the downer of the evening. We couldn't have been more wrong, and a number of us were converted that day, myself especially. 16v's Eric Powell smashed a mic stand to bits during "Suffering You", then quickly proceeded to smash another right after. Good times. Kidney Thieves, the first opener, put on an impressive show as well. I remember they captivated the audience with lush vocals and a real tight musicianship. Probably one of the best all-around shows I've ever been to.
MrDM: I'm not really a big L7 fan or anything (I only have one of their albums!), but I still remember this concert fondly because it was my first exposure to The Melvins. They performed material off of Houdini, which still stands up today as one of their better albums. For being a three piece, this band is incredibly heavy live. King Buzzo (lead singer/guitarist) also has possibly the greatest afro in the history of rock, which sways hypnotically when he's churning out head-banging riffs. They've put out a zillion albums after this one, and it's been difficult for me to keep up. The band has evolved into more of an art-rock type of outfit, which is not something I'm always in the mood to listen to.
MrDM: This was one of the few outdoor shows I've been to (having concerts outdoors is not the best idea in Oregon!). No rain thankfully--and this show was simply amazing. I wasn't overly-impressed with them when I saw them previously, but at this point they had released their magnum opus Throwing Copper. I don't need to tell you that this album is packed to the gills with classic tunes. The opener for them was PJ Harvey, which was another favorite of mine. "To Give You My Love" is still a disc I like to listen to on occasion. It's hard to believe that such a deep, rich and soulful voice can come out of such a tiny frame!
MrDM: It really doesn't get much more decedent than this! Let's just say they had inflatible girls hanging from the rafters...and naked people dancing on stage. Quite a wild night. TKK had just released Sexplosion and was still considered a cool band at that point. The Bomb Gang Girls were in full effect, and it was a really fun show overall. Lords of Acid was entertaining, but I quickly lost interest in the band after this show. There's not a lot of substance to what they do, unfortunately.
MrDM: Being a long-time Ministry fan, I had been salivating at the chance to see them live. I'd always heard they were an amazing live band, and their live videos seemed to communicate the fact quite nicely. The venue was packed, and the show was LOUD. Vertigo-inducingly loud. I made a mental note to consider ear plug next time. The only bad part about the show was the fact we were subjected to lame nu metal openers that were completely forgettable. Animositisomina wasn't everyone's favorite album, but I really liked it's old skool Killing Joke-leanings. Lots of old favorites were played from the LORAH and Mind days, which made me extremely happy to say the least.
BB: This time around, Ministry were finally getting pissed off again, and were for one of the first times ever, off of heroin. It definitely showed. I caught this show midway during the FornicaTour for their album Animositisomina, their first record since I was in high school. The show was as intense and loud as I think anything can be. Al Jourgensen was getting pretty fat from finally eating regularly and he looked like a total ass rocker, with big wavy hair and a bandana. It was a just a wee bit funny. The set included tunes from The Land of Rape and Honey right up to Animositisomina. "Stigmata", "N.W.O." and "Filth Pig" were big sonic highlights for the evening. During the song "Breathe" my best friend was handed the mic by Al Jourgensen, and my buddy sang along...not once, but twice. When the song was over, Al applauded Michael for being a "true fan". He's bragged about that moment and exaggerated it to such a degree as to defy logic, but what the hell. After the show, we had the pleasure of meeting Ministry outside and got autographs and ask the band questions. I thanked Paul Barker (the other half of Ministry for 18 years) for his efforts in making great music. Which I'm glad I did, since he left Ministry shortly after and it's very doubtful he'll make music again. That, and he was my main inspiration for picking up the bass guitar in the first place. That was also the night we went to war with Iraq, and even then every there was upset and pissed off at the federal gov't. Just a taste of things to come... Opening that night was Lollipop Lustkill. A bunch of fat guys in red suits who played wonderfully, tho I can't remember much of their set. Nothingface was the next opener, and they were alright. I bought an album of theirs a few days later and listened to it three or four times. It now collects a lot of dust on my cd shelf.
MrDM: Rumors of a double-bill with Skinny Puppy abounded, but regrettably it was not to be. Instead, the opening bands were TKK and HuG--which was not entirely a bad thing! HuG had just released their new one "Scheissmessiah," and I was extremely happy that this band got a chance to be exposed to a large amount of fans who had probably never heard of them. The set rocked just as hard as ever, but I was disappointed the HuG shied away from any of their earlier material. I had serious reservations about seeing TKK again, as the last time I saw them opening for Pigface Groovie Mann was completely trashed and put on a horrible show. It was quite a bit better this time, and the band even had a fairly interesting projection going on in the background. Ministry was masterful again, focusing primarily on material from their news disc "Houses of the Mole"--most of which was an indictment of George W. Bush's administration. As a bonus, we got to see an actor playing George Bush get repeatedly beat and sodomized by Al Jourgenson (which was very cathartic for the audience). The real treat of the night was a special appearence by Jello Biafra, who gave a "get out a vote!" speech before launching into a trio of Lard tunes. Perfection.
BB: Whoa. This was a dream show for me for a few reasons. For one, I never expected Ministry to stick around for as long as they have, and two, and I never thought I would get the chance to see Thrill Kill Kult. Those two bands were my first introduction into more underground music, and helped me stay there. Ministry's set was pretty much the same as always, except the first hour was nothing but new material, which they have a tendency to push into the middle, or scatter around, on other tours. The opening song, "No W" was a great big middle finger to the Bush administration. Towards the end of that song, a kid that had been waving to the crowd while wearing a Bush mask got his ass kicked (and humped!) by Al Jourgensen and Thrill Kill Kult's Levi Levi. The background visuals were more impressive than at their last few shows, and incorporated a number of anti-Bush sentiments. Suffice it to say, this was the EvilDoerTour, and they meant business. TKK's set was an amalgam of tracks from their earliest records to their newest. The music was great, the visuals were, for lack of a better term, downright bizarre. Frontman Groovie Man looked absurd wearing no shirt and intentionally hamming up his lyrics, and his performance. "After the Flesh", the film The Crow, was played flawlessly, and made me nearly jump out of my seat. It was the first song I ever heard by them, after all. The highlight of the show was definitely Jello Biafra coming out to rally the "troops" against George W. Bush. His speech on the importance of voting, and the vital nature of participating in the democratic process was heartfelt, and moving. For the encore, he performed three Lard songs with Ministry bringing on the noise. A historical show on many levels. The opening band that night Hanzel Und Gretyl, who were nothing short of scary and intimidating. Few bands could hold a candle to their solid metal riffs and pounding drum beats.
MrDM: Still kicking myself for not traveling up to Portland to catch Nine Inch Nails back in the Pretty Hate Machine days, I was determined not to miss them again. I was lucky to get tickets early for this one, as the venue was very small for a band of this stature and it was sold out almost immediately. In fact, it was vastly oversold, because it was so packed in there you could literally not move. It was shoulder to shoulder. Nevertheless, the show--featuring tunes from the newly-released "The Downward Spiral"--was awesome. Whatever you think of Trent Reznor, you have to admit he puts on an incredible live show. This was just because NIN got really huge and started doing stadium tours. I remember Trent saying how great we were as a crowd compared to Seattle (which may have been a completely lie to get us excited, but I bought it!) The recent live disc "All That Could Have Been" does a great job at capturing the atmosphere at one of his shows.
MrDM: I have fond memories of this show, because it was the first one I took a date to. I ended up converting her to the band, which is not a small task considering harsh, unmelodic nature of the band. This particular show was for their final album "Big Hit" (which actually isn't that good, but all the oldies they played made up for it). This made for my third time seeing the band: I saw them open once for Depeche Mode of their Violator tour and secondly supporting the album "Ebbhead" (with a band called Ethyl Meatplow opening). An additional side note--I somehow managed to pinch a nerve in my shoulder trying to emulate a move Douglas McCarthy made during the show. Ouch, that was painful! My first and hopefully last time for pinching a nerve.
MrDM: This was my first show I'd been to that was infested with goths. I am not kidding when I say that one girl was literally dressed up as the Bride of Frankenstein! Maybe this folks were praying that Peter Murphy was going to break out a Bauhaus tune or something. He didn't, but the show was one of the best I've seen anyway. "Holy Smoke" wasn't a bad album, but the preceding one "Deep" is one of my favorites of all time. The playing of songs from that release was warmly received by me. I was also blown away by a cover of Led Zepplin's "Been a Long Time Since I Rock n' Rolled" as an encore. Wow. Finally, I was struck by Peter Murphy mastery of the stage and interaction with the audience. He's got those penetrating eyes that make it feel as if he is singing strictly to you. I'm saddened though that his subsequent albums haven't really been interesting enough to merit seeing him live.
MrDM: The first Pigface concert, and the beginning of a long love affair with this band. Easily the best live band I've ever seen. Even if you are not a fan of their albums, I heartily recommend seeing them anyway because of how amazing they are live. There's just something about the spontaneity and the chaos surrounding the band that makes them captivating. You never quite know what's going to happen at one of their concerts! It's also no wonder Pigface's discography features numerous live albums. This particular tour featured many bands from Invisible's roster--some playing simultaneously in different rooms. Oh, and there were fire-breathers in the audience. I never knew it would be so hot standing next to them...
MrDM: This best part of this show was the heckling Genesis P. Orridge received while fronting Thee Majesty. Genesis' retorts were classic (and I'm sure he's had many years worth of practice coming up with them).
MrDM: Not a well-attended show, but that didn't stop the band from trying to crowd-surf on a rubber raft!
BB: My first time seeing Pigface, on the Preaching to the Perverted tour. At the time I wasn't a real big Pigface fan, but nevertheless it was impossible to not have a good time. The set was solid, and the musicians were literally half-crazed. The opening song, "July" was performed on an acoustic guitar by one of my Ministry/Revolting Cocks heroes, Chris Connelly. There was a white semi-see thru back drop which the other members of Pigface used to shine multi-colored flashlights thru in random circular fashion. Very hippy. Opening that night was SMP from Seattle, a rap/industrial combo who used power tools to grind into oil drums to produce a massive amount of sparks. Godhead was next, my second time seeing them that year. They put on a good show, but their vocals, again, were too low to be very audible. "Penetrate" was performed interestingly enough with clouds of dry ice while the frontman adorned a mask with red lasers emanating from it. A memorable moment to compliment a memorable song. The next band to play was Gravity Kills, who I was definitely the most pumped up to see. It was towards the end of their career, but they still managed to kick my ass. Frontman Jeff Scheel must have had a cold that night - he blew snot rockets left and right thruout their set. More than a few LANDED ON MY ARMS and CLOTHES. It was disgusting, but that's what you come to expect at such a show. And I did get a smashed Gravity Kills drum stick out of the deal. I think they felt bad about showering me in snot. Highlights of the night for me was getting to shake Chris Connelly's hand, and getting to meet and talk with Jared Louche of Chemlab who was singing for Pigface that night. Jared was very friendly and more than happy to take his time bonding with one of his fans. Left quite an impression on me. We stay in contact regularly now.
MrDM: This was a packed show, supporting their latest "Easy Listening For Difficult Fuckheads." I appreciate the fact that once again, Chris Connelly kicks off the show with some Damage Manual tunes. His cover of The Revolting Cocks' "Stainless Steel Providers" is the real treat, though.
MrDM: Woefully underattended. My thought is that: 1) it's the holiday season, and 2) there's no new album to tour for--contribute to this. The good news though was the leader singer of Dope was sick so I didn't have to put up with their lame-ass music. The highlight was seeing En Esch doing his Pigface songs (as well as a Slick Idiot tune) and picking up a couple of Pigface DVDs.
BB: The last time Pigface made it out this way, they were ravaged with disappointing turnouts and encountered various problems with the venue of the time, the Roseland Theatre. All the bands beside Pigface never even made it to the stage. For us, the last days of 'fuckin' it up' were numbered.

This time around, the Tour Gods have been kind and forgiving.

The performance on Wednesday, May 4th was an incredible 180 from the prior experience. This time Pigface played the smaller, more intimate, less troublesome venue Dante's Sinferno. The turnout was superb and every band unleashed a rare fury. A lot is still at stake in this game, and everyone who took the stage that night knew it.

The opening band was VooDou, a dance metal ensemble formerly fronted by the ravishing Michelle Walters. The set list was brief and the guitars were heavy and crunchy. The electronic elements of the band were far subdued, and the new frontwoman was no Michelle Walters. Still, the music was catchy and they didn't miss a beat.

Next up: Nocturne, hailing from Dallas. Out promoting their new record, Guide to Extinction, the set list was a good blend of new material, as well as a few personal favorites from their previous record, Paradise Wasted. Living, breathing tracks such as "Whore," "My Bitch" and "Happy" took on a whole new realm of menacing flavour, bursting with an added energy missing from Paradise Wasted. The initial passivity of the audience was soon overcome by singer Lacey Connor's seductive mid-song coo: "You guys can come closer to the stage..I won't bite...HARD."

To make room for Pigface's drum set and other gear, the size of the stage Nocturne had to person on was ridiculously small. This did nothing to detract from the band or the performance - the group was right there, IN YOUR FACE, and you had to deal with it one way or another. Lacey Connor also had to resort to singing atop the stage level monitors, just to have enough room for the destructive four piece.

Following Nocturne's impressive showing, was the more disappointing Sheep on Drugs. Two guys, one keyboard, one microphone and a poorly misunderstood guitar were SOD's gear for the show. Lead singer Lee Fraser donned a white jumpsuit with fake blood - bandmate Duncan X bounced around the electronic device which apparently served as drum machine, synth, sampler, and a number of other assorted instruments. (Probably a glorified cd player). A back drop of projected film clips flashed across the stage and SOD for much of the show. SOD poured their hearts out. The crowed delighted in their revels - I felt like I was seeing a very poor man's Skinny Puppy. The endless chantings of "Machine Sex!!!1" were assinine. All I got from that particular song was the mental image of both band members jerking each other off in front of a computer during a lengthy internet porn fest.

Last, and certainly not least was the legendary Pigface. The group's ensemble was smaller this time around, and the set a little more cramped due to the smaller stage the venue provided. This resulted in an energetic band in top form.

Opening with "Asphole" was singer Curse Mackey (Grim Faeries/Evil Mothers). Not the best first choice for a lead singer, but he did a fine job nonetheless. One definite highlight of this show a tweaked rendition of KMFDM's "Godlike," featuring En Esch on vocals. I've seen crowds go crazy before, but not straight up ape shit. It was great to see En Esch perform a famous tune from his infamously ex-communicated former band. Having seen KMFDM play the song twice, I can say En Esch had them easily beat.

For the most part the setlist consisted of "King of Negativity," "Insect/Suspect" and other tracks from Pigface's most recent offering, Easy Listening... A lot of the usual hits like "Hips, Tits, Lips, Power!" and "Nutopia" were skipped over, and thankfully I might add. Portions of "Sweet Home Alabama" and Sabbath's "Supernaut" could be heard between songs.

Another highlight of the show was our great vantage point. My friends and I had been crammed right up front, where soon enough I was pretty much exiled to sit in hour old beer on top of a stage level monitor. Microphones were repeatedly thrust into the audiences faces, particularly that of my friend Michael. He got to sing portions of at least three Pigface songs and got into Duncan X's camera lense at least a few times. Between the regular performance and the encore, the microphone was left on stage where several of us proceeded to shout for Pigface's return, which moments later.

Band founder Martin Atkins then came out and gave his usual schpeel about pimping his shit in a modest way (people still buy it) and the band then played with renewed vigor once more. The Enigma came out and chopped a cucumber resting innocently on an audience member's neck. This was after he simulated masturbating the young girl with the cucumber, of course. The last of the Enigma's little stunts was wielding a spark throwing chainsaw, and attacking ever willing crowd members with it.

All in all, a great show, venue, and definitely worth more than the price of admission, a paltry $14. Combined with the coupon discounts available on this tour, the ticket price eventually became ZERO. And that's a good price to see any legendary band at the top of their game.

MrDM: I think Brian covered this one pretty well, but I'll go ahead and throw in my two cents anyway.

While Voodou IS lacking the prominent eye candy that was Michelle Walters, strangely enough I liked them MORE this time around with their new lead singer. Although the band is a little more lacking in electronics than is my liking in machine rock, they were definitely entertaining and fun to listen to.

Next up: Nocturne. Quite honestly, I've never really gotten the appeal of this band. To my ears, they sound like fairly generic industrial (albeit BARELY) rock. The vocal mix seemed pretty muddled and I had a hard time distinguishing one song from the next. Ms. Conner's ability to do her trademark gyrations were severely hampered by her two square feet of stage space she had to work with--but in the end, it's really about the music, right? For me, Nocturne doesn't really cut the mustard.

Sheep on Drugs took the stage next. Now HERE is where my review deviates radically from Brian's. While I never have been very impressed with the recorded works of the aforementioned band, their live performance was electrifying! Lee Fraiser was an absolute god up on the stage (which he pretty much HAD to be given the very minimalistic setup of the band). Very theatrical and commanding. While their new CD "F**K" isn't mindblowing by any stretch of the imagination, the live performance is definitely worth your hard-earned money. I'd love to see these guys put out a DVD some day.

Finally, Pigface took the stage. Now I always say that there's always something special that happens at one of these shows--and this was no exception. Pigface was not supporting a new album at this time (unless you consider the myriad of remix albums that have come out recently "new"). The lineup was similar to what we saw on the last tour, minus Seibold, Connelly and Walters. Instead we primarily had Curse Mackey and En Esch on lead vocals with Hanin Elias from Atari Teenage Riot doing the female vox on the appropriate songs. Hanin was sporting a vaguely German outfit completely with a little Hitler mustache. Not sure what the point of all that was but her karate kicking was a sight to behold.

Pigface trotted out the standard classic tunes--no real surprises with a couple of exceptions. It wasn't until about a quarter way through the song that I realized En Esch was singing "Godlike" due to the fact that the trademark guitar riff had been replaced by a lameass sythnline. Not really the best choice for this song. The highlight for me, however, was En Esch on "Sweet Home Alabama," dedicated by Martin Atkins to the "cheap bastards out on the sidewalk to cheap to buy a ticket and come inside" (which were watching through the open doorway). Deliciously subversive. Eat Shit You Fucking Redneck indeed.

The concert of course was made more enjoyable by the small but vocal contingent of diehard Pigface fans. Everyone was enthusiastic, yet respectful. No out-of-control pits or belligerent behavior. After the show, the entire band visited with fans outside in a really cool and low-key meet & greet. I was able to shake Martin Atkins' hand and let him know how much I appreciated his little project as I was on my 6th or 7th Pigface show.
MrDM: As a long-time Sister Machine Gun fan, I was really excited to finally see them in concert. Their new album "Influence" was a return to the halcyon days of the Wax Trax! sound. I loved the format of the setlist, which was a couple of songs from every album, proceeding from the current album and regressing backwards to the first album "Sins of the Flesh." Hearing modern interpretations of those older songs was a lot of fun. The openers Manufactura and Christ Analogue were entertaining as well.
BB: I was a paper boy in 7th grade when I bought SMG's Burn Lp in 1996. I had no idea what they sounded like and had never heard of them before. But the record DID have the Wax Trax! logo proudly emblazoned on the back, so I figured it was the best use of my money at the record shop in my small hometown. Burn was one of just a few cd's I immediately took to - and shortly after have loved ever since. The chance to see SMG was a big deal for me for a couple reasons. They hadn't hit the road in over six years and tickets were just $8, THE BEST use of $8 I can think one can take advantage of. That, and I had never seen them before. The tour was called Domination, and it was something else. Sabala's Mt. Tabor was the venue, and there couldn't have been more than 50 people there. I went with Mr. Drum Machine and my friend Tiffani. It was a 21+ over show so the beer was ripe for the drinking, and I was able to lean against the band's monitors, just a few feet a way from them while they played. Even better was the ashtray I had conveinently in front of me. I smoked a cigarette for every fav song they played, which pretty much meant I killed a whole pack while of my top five bands played inches in front of me. They played a few songs from every album they made, and Chris Randall's between-song banter made it for a very personal, intimate show and setting. Levi Levi from My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult was on bass that night, and he was definitely the most suave mofo there. The comedic event of the night was when Chris Randall broke his keyboard while flailing about on the ever so tiny stage. His anger was incredibly amusing. Opening was Manufactura...one guy with some electronic equipment he used to make some delicious instrumental soundscapes. I would have enjoyed it much more had we all not been subjected to the exact same thing for an hour before the show actually started. Kind of ridiculous in my book. The next band to play was Christ Analogue, another of many bands I've caught on the upswing after a collapse. Also their first tour in eons. The vocals were laughably bad when they started and I was sure that it was just a roadie doing a mic check. Wrong! C/A won me over soon after - the lyrics were good, the lighting was INCREDIBLE and songs had a kick to them that was very refreshing. Jason B. from Seattle's SMP was one a second drum set and occaisional second mic for C/A's set. Jason is a good song writer and performer. Too bad there isn't a bigger market for industrial rap.
MrDM: What happens when you finally see a band you've been waiting around 15 years to see? Well, when it happened with Bauhaus a few months ago, it was pure bliss. My impossibly-high expectations were not only met, but were completely surpassed! Would the same hold true for another goth great--The Sisters of Mercy?

Well, truth to tell I was not completely blown away. However, the evening was far from a total loss!

The opener was the leader singer from The Catherine Wheel--who did a solo acoustic thing that was VERY enjoyable. I wish I had shown up a bit earlier to catch the entire show.

After an hour's worth of reggae music (!!!) and ten billion cubic feet of dry ice was pumped into the venue, Andrew Eldritch finally took the stage flanked by his two new guitarists. Doktor Avalanche (Andy's ever-loyal drum machine) kicked things off with a series of new, unrecorded (except in bootlegs) tunes. I read that Andrew had injured a rib earlier in the tour, which makes sense in retrospect as the vocals were very subdued and hard to pick out of the mix. This, combined with the unfamiliarity with the new stuff resulted in a bit of a borish start as far as I was concerned.

Eventually, Eldritch dipped into the backcatalog with such songs as "Lucretia My Reflection," "Dominion/Mother Russia," "Flood II" and "Temple of Love" and really started projecting his powerful baritone. The show continued to build momentum and worked the crowd into a complete frenzy. Two encores finished things off, ending with the uber-powerful "Vision Thing." It was a climax that lead me wishing for a cigarette--and I don't even smoke!

A couple things which struck me about the show: first of all, ridiculous amounts of dry ice. Almost overwhelmingly so. It was sometimes hard to pick out the band members, but the effect it gave the lighting was incredible. The air itself almost seemed to turn a solid color, which was a trippy effect to say the least. Also, the guitar work by the new guys was excellent. Some of the older songs picked up more of a rockier vibe and less of a doom n' gloom/minor key feeling the originals possessed. Finally, Andrew doesn't really move around a whole lot...nor does he interact with the crowd extensively. But you know? That didn't really bother me. I was too busy experiencing all of these old favorites on a visceral level that only a live performance can provide.
MrDM: Although not the hugest fan of this band, they'd probably take away my rivethead membership card if I missed this show. This was a reunion many didn't think would happen, and it's not a certainty we'd ever get to see them again. Huge turnout--so much so that it took at least a half hour to even get in! Once there, the multimedia onslaught was beyond compare. I was not familiar enough with every song to identify them all, but it was still a fun concert.
BB: A lot of "hardcore" Skinny Puppy fans were pretty upset at the time, regarding SP's newest album, The Greater Wrong of the Right. It wasn't "harsh" enough they said, and a lot of them were having a pink panty meltdown that they would even continue without Dwayne Goettel. I was somewhere in the middle, having been a long time Puppy person and having the new disc still brand new in my conscience. I also am a firm believer in accepting that things change, most of all people and their art. I didn't really know what to expect when they came out to perform, but it was a real high energy tour de force. It was SP's first American tour in 12 years, and we were there for the very first show of this tour. Go PORTLAND! The set list was quite varied and they did more than a little justice to every track they performed. "Glass Houses", "Tin Omen", "Inquisition"...every Puppy era (minus The Process - no love lost there) had its moment of fabulous glory. The background visuals and stage set up were the best of any show I've been too. Seeing a huge backdrop featuring film of Bush with a swastika super imposed on top drove the message home loud and clear - The White House and the Extreme Right are the true enemies of freedom and peace. The opening band was Tweaker, Chris Vrenna's (ex-NIN) project. The music was interesting, but I doubt that Skinny Puppy could have found a less interesting band to open for them. In the end, the contrast in performance just made Skinny Puppy ledgendary for me.
MrDM: The Mercury Falling tour. A mediocre album, but a chance to see one of the great pop stars of our day. Of course, when Sting launched into Police material the crowd went absolutely NUTS! Everything else was met with polite appalause. I'm not sorry I went though. However, it's doubtful I'd pay the kind of coin required to see him again!
MrDM: Most people don't believe that Sugar Ray used to be a cool band...and I'm talking way before "I Wanna Fly" came out. Their first album "Lemonde and Brownies" is uber-cool fusion of Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Beastie Boys. Rumor has it though that everyone in the band but Mark McGrath wanted to pursue a more pop-friendly mainstream sound, which is where they eventually went. During this show, whenever they busted out one of their older tunes from the first album, everyone just sat dumbfounded because of how different it was from their newer stuff. I enjoyed the show on that level at least.
MrDM: They Might Be Giants are always a fun time. I believe I've seen them at least three times. Who says accordians don't rock?

MrDM: Sometime around 1999, I picked up an album called Praise The Fallen by VNV Nation based on its description by a magazine as sharing sonic similiarities with one of my favorte bands--Front 242. It wasn't immediately love-at-first-listen, but this collection of grandious and anthemic songs kept me sufficiently intrigued and eventually I found myself hungering for more from the band.

In the subsequent years, my appreciation grew exponetionally with each new album and single I picked up. VNV Nation become one of my favorite bands ever--probably in the top 5 at least. This is actually saying something as I am fanatical about several bands of whom I have complete discographies and have seen lseveral times. The only thing missing from my VNV experience was seeing them live. Somehow I had just gotten fairly obsessed with them just after the Futureperfect tour, so imagine the torture I endured having to wait three long years for another new album. Finally Matter & Form arrived, and the tour dates were announced. I was at my local Ticketmaster booth the MINUTE they opened, as I had a deeply-seated irrational fear that somehow the show would sell out instantly. With ticket in hand, I could finally sleep soundly knowing that I'd finally get to witness one of THE bands I had to see live at some point in my life.

As the tension had been mounting during the week leading up to the show, I received a call from Mr. Barcode informing me that there would actually be an IN-STORE with Ronan the afternoon of the concert! Needless to say I was pretty excited about the proposition. I had met band members and "celebrities" before and general have a pretty level-headed attitude about the whole experience (after all, they are human beings just like the rest of us). This case was a little different as VNV's music is something that reaches me on more of a philosophical level that purely as entertainment. You can read about my in-store experience HERE.

Finally 8pm rolls around and we make our way to the Aladdin. Seats are naturally procured near up-front and after a bit of waiting, Soman takes the stage. Being a just one guy with a laptop and some kind of mini-mixing board, my expectations are someone low that this was going to be visually entertaining. How wrong I was! Looking part Vin Deisel from Pitch Black and a muppet on methamphetamines, Soman's frontman whipped the crowd into a frenzy with his frantic fist-pumping and contagious head-bobbing. His set was a non-stop dance party and got the crowd sufficiently jazzed for the upcoming acts.

Imperative Reaction were the next up; this is a band I had seen before opening for Flesh Field. As was the case then, the band is not really my cup of tea. Technically, the music is well-crafted and the vocals are excellent. I refuse to deem them "bad," as I think they are excellent in virtually every way of quatifying a band's performance. For whatever reason, they just don't get me excited--and that's strictly the fault of my personal tastes. (My wish is that their material would be more aggressive like "Arrogance," the opening track on their latest album Redemption. More tunes like that would go a long way to convert me).

And then...the moment of truth!

Now I had seen VNV perform many times before--through repeated viewings of their PastPerfect DVD. (Part of me is jealous of the Europeans who seemingly have better musical taste than Americans and therefore get to experience these large Lollapalooza-like festivals with dozens of big-name electronic bands. On the other hand, smaller audiences here in the U.S. allow for a more intimate experience). I knew from this that VNV was skilled playing TO and crowd rather than just FOR one. Ronan and Mark came out flanked by members from the previous two bands and proved this by launching energetically into the first single from Matter & Form, "Chrome."

The setlist from the show spanned almost the whole career of VNV, beginning with older tracks like "Joy" and "Darkangel" and ending with new favorites such as "Entropy" and "Perpetual." Many crowd-favorites were touched on as well, such as "Epicentre," "Honour 2004" and "Standing." Interspersed between all of these songs was Ronan's lively banner peppered with humorous ruminations and heartfelt reflections, which really added a dimension of intimacy to the show. Although the lighting and other aesthetic qualities of the performance were top-notch, it was the rapport that Ronan and Mark built with the audience that made it truly a memorable experience. The result: in all of my concert-going years, I have never heard a crowd which was so loud and appreciative as this one.

After VNV closed with my favorite song of theirs "Beloved," they voiced their appreciation to the attendees and annouced their intention to return in the future. I'm pretty sure that everyone there was happy to hear that. A successful show all the way around and well-worth another three year wait to see them again!
BB: This was definitely a fantastic show. I did honest dancing for the first time in months, and had a blast during the first two bands sets. First up: Soman. Just one guy with a Macintosh, but his music was heavy hitting and incorporated some good use of samples. He had a wacky techno German thing going on with himself, reminded me almost of Riddick from Pitch Black. Only thing different was his superb good mood. Definitely got the crowd moving, and I worked up a ferocious sweat. I nearly forgot what it was like to get real exercise.

Imperative Reaction was next up. The set up was three people, Ted Phelps on vox, Sam P. on a very kick ass electro drum kit, and Clint Carney on keys and vox. The lead singer isn't the most charismatic I've seen, but he sings well and kept the audience in a fury. The drumming didn't miss a beat, and set a very intense tempo to the overall mood. The lighting effects used for this set were impressive and flowed well with the live show. The band's sound was very crisp and built well upon the dance insanity brought on previously by Soman. Afterwards I tracked them down at the merch booth and talked with them for a bit. Another interview in progress! Awesome.

Next, VNV Nation. The singer, Ronan Harris, is chubby, balding, and not particularly handsome. But he can sing his ass off, he can move like nobody's fucking business, and he treats his audience the best of any bad I have EVER seen. The lighting was incredibly, nearly breathtaking at times. The background visuals, never once distracting, added immensely to the lighting and powerful stage prescence VNV wield. The music, though certainly aggressive, was surprisingly upbeat and leaned heavily in the poppier techno realm of industrial. By the end of one particular song that frontman Ronan gave a heart felt intro for, I was nearly crying at how beautiful it was. It was the right song at the right place at the right time for me. I actually had to hold myself back to keep from making a scene. Never in my life have I ever been that emotionally moved at a concert before--particularly by a band I am only a casual fan of at best, by a song I'd never heard before. I can't help but admit VNV won me over fully, and that copy of Futureperfect addressed to 'Brian Barcode' will be a real sentimental treasure in my collection.
MrDM: I don't have much to say about this concert except that it was a lot of fun. It was very stripped down, similar to the Beck concert I went to. The guys were more than willing to take requests and played what must have been a zillion songs. One of the most quirky, interesting and genre-hopping bands ever.
MrDM: A few things bummed me about this concert. The first was I missed the Melvins opening. I'd only seen them once before and I really wanted to again. (I had already seen Babes in Toyland during Lollapalooza, along with Front 242, Fishbone, Alice In Chains and Primus). The second was that White Zombie wasn't nearly as interesting as I'd hoped. Rob didn't seem to move around a lot, and the props weren't as elaborate and theatrical for the type of music they do. It could also be for the fact the venue was about 120 degrees and is one of the worst ever as far as ventilation and acoustics. Simply put, I like Rob's videos and albums much better than seeing him live.