Killing Joke Live at the Henry Fonda Theater, in Hollywood, CA 05/05/2013

For thirty five years Killing Joke has been a force upon the international music scene that has been instrumental in the forming of genres that did not exist before their seminal releases defined entirely new descriptive terms of sound and song writing. They have been labeled as post-punk, new wave, synth-pop, rock, gothic, industrial, metal, and a combination of all of those things at once. They have been hugely influential on literally dozens of bands with many of the big players from all of the above mentioned genres having cited them as critical pioneers in their own development as musicians.

Killing Joke represent an intense and powerful brand of music no matter which of their many releases you are listening to; whether it be a hard hitting song from the mid-nineties that now defines the industrial-metal style or one of the melancholic anthems that move the listener with a more gothic, new wave sensibility.

My own personal history with Killing Joke started back in the mid-eighties when I was a young skate-punk, listening to a mix of true punk rock, early goth style bands, and stuff like Metallica. I had heard of Killing Joke before, but it wasn’t until Metallica put out the “Garage Days Revisted” EP with their cover of “The Wait” on it that I really got into them. I thought their cover version was so cool that I went and sought out the original artist and have been a fan of Killing Joke since.

Over the years there have been some albums that I thought were cool and then some that were just mind blowingly awesome but no matter where they fell, they were always something different and worth the investment.

The band has fluctuated quite often over the years with members leaving to pursue other endeavors or the band just being on hiatus while they applied their talents in other ways. Jaz Coleman, the front man and vocalist, has been one of the main focal points throughout their entire three and half decade career. In recent years, the band has put out two full length albums that are as powerful and poignant as anything they have released over the years and this being with the original founding lineup once more united.

The current tour celebrates thirty five years in conjunction with a three disc boxed set collecting their many singles over the years. This opens up a dream set list spanning that entire time frame. With their original lineup on stage, they played the songs from the early eighties that gave them their start all the way through to some of the best songs off their newer material.

As the curtain rose, the band took the stage. Geordie Walker took the left side of the stage with his hollow-body electric guitar. Paul Ferguson on drums in the rear center of the stage was flanked on the far right by the only non-original member, Reza Udhin from the electronic industrial band Inertia playing keyboards. Martin Glover, or Youth as he is commonly known, stood at the front of the stage on the right side with his bass guitar. Jaz Coleman came out with a wild-man’s stare, his arms out to the sides and raised slightly as if he were about to pounce. He opened his mouth in a toothy grimace as if a dragon about to blow fire.

The fire came in the form of his lyrics rather than literal flames as they broke into the first song of the night, “Requiem” off of their debut self-titled release from 1980. The song was at once powerful and aggressive and instantly brought back all the memories of listening to this album for the first time so long ago.

The sound was perfect in terms of blending of instruments and the sound from each musician. Jaz has a unique vocal delivery that can vary from song to song, ranging from harsh growled lyrics, to melodic, even melancholic verses that can only be described as moving and beautiful.

Their second song of the night was “Turn to Red” which dates back to the very origin of the band, the single being released in 1979. I don’t remember this song from my past listening but it was awesome live and fit right in with all of their more modern sounding material. They followed that up with “War Dance”, also coming from their first album. Jaz had this wild look in his eyes, mostly staring straight forward as he marched in place.

He really did not interact with the audience or his band mates or even speak much the entire show, they just went straight from song to song and he would occasionally make snarling faces or open his mouth as if to breath fire or hiss like a dragon and then resume singing. As the show went on, his arm gestures got more and more animated but for “War Dance” he would only march and then raise his arm up on the chorus like a tomahawk raised for the kill.

The fourth song saw time fly forward with a track off their 2010 release “Absolute Dissent”. “European Super State” was easily one of my favorite songs of the set, more electronic and melodic than a lot of the material and also just a super cool song. The lyrics, as with almost everything Jaz writes, are intelligent and poignant, reflecting on the formation of Europe into a civilized super state.

“Madness” from 1981’s “What’s THIS For…!” featured a great staged chorus with the other band members joining in… “This is Madness!” Jaz would yell, “This is Madness!” a beat later would come from Youth, and then one last resound from Paul in the back “This is Madness!” which the audience would join in for. This song really got the audience swept up and although I was too enraptured by the performance to pay much attention to the other concert goers, I was aware of a mosh pit forming at points and the crowd moving to and fro.

In 1990, Killing Joke put out, what would be for me personally, one of their more seminal albums with the release of “Extremities, Dirt, and Various Repressed Emotions”.

Many cited this as the start of the Industrial-Metal sound along with Ministry’s “The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste” from around the same time period. “The Beautiful Dead” was one of the powerhouse songs from this album and it was great to get to see it live after so many years.

The next two songs came from a time period of releases that I am not that familiar with. They did “Chop-Chop” and “Sun Goes Down” both originally released around 1982. They were both great songs live and even though I was not familiar with them, the rest of the audience certainly was and I was swept up in the moment regardless. They followed up these two with another stand out favorite, “Eighties”.

When I was in college we would all gather in one of our group’s dorm rooms weekly and watch “120 Minutes” on MTV. At that time, a regular player, and favorite of ours was the video for “Money Is Not Our God”. This song has stuck with me ever since and I still find it going through my head at odd moments, like whenever I see anything of religious or political nature in the news that makes me groan with witnessing the greed of said enterprises. This is a true anthem that has been with me through life and has, I believe, helped me focus on what is really important. Seeing it live was everything I hoped it would be and definitely one of the stand out songs of the night.

Killing Joke had already treated us to ten awesome songs and that could have been sufficient for everyone to walk away happy but instead of that being the finishing point, from here the concert only gets better!

Another pinnacle in their career, and an album that I still play regularly, came out in 1994 entitled “Pandemonium”. This album encompassed Eastern sounds, apocalyptic lyrics, and just brilliant song writing. They played “Whiteout” off of this masterwork and the audience went crazy. They followed up with “Asteroid” off of their self-titled 2003 release. I was not very familiar with this song but it moved right out of the last song perfectly.

Jaz introduced the next song by name which is more than he had said so far during the show. “Corporate Elect” comes off of their latest album “MMXII” which sees them in all their intelligent, aggressive glory pointing out that the elected officials have their hands in the pockets of the corporations and vice versa. Their new album is fantastic and I would have loved to see more material off of it but at least we got this one great song.

The wait for the “The Wait” was over… the song that got me into them in the first place was better live than I could have ever imagined. I could not help but sing along and a large portion of the audience felt the same urge as the venue was filled with the resounding chorus. Thirty three years after its debut and it is still an awesome song.

They finished off the monumental set with “Pandemonium” off the album of the same name. This is easily one of my favorite songs of theirs of any era and it was so good to hear it live. “I can see tomorrow, I can see the world to come”.

The band left the stage briefly but the tumultuous roar from the audience alternating between “Killing Joke” and “We want more” brought them right back out. Jaz took a moment to say thanks for all the years and introduced Geordie, Youth, and Paul.

He then said that a day does not go by that he does not think of his dear departed friend Raven (who used to play bass with them while Youth went off and did his mega-producer thing). With that introduction they went into “Love Like Blood”. Seriously, it was goose bumps. The song is one of their more melodic, melancholic songs and it was brilliant and moving, and definitely one of the best songs I have EVER seen live.

Everyone would have been more than content to have that be the finale but these guys were not done yet. They pulled out two more songs from way back in the beginning. They played “Change” and “Pssyche” both more obscure songs that were B-sides to some of their first singles. Both songs were aggressive and one of them featured a growly vocal section sung by Paul Fergusson. It was a cool way to end the show and leave everybody with a little burst of energy before departing into the night.

It was an awesome show to say the least and left me singing “Love Like Blood” to myself on the drive home and throughout the following days. I can’t believe that it took me this long to see a band I have listened to since 1987, but I finally have and they blew away my expectations. Their sheer performance and musicianship is astounding and having been so influential in my own musical upbringing and formation it really was a dream show.




					Killing Joke Live at The Henry Fonda Theater Hollywood, California May 5th, 2013 Review and Photos by Travis Baumann For thirty five years Killing Joke has been a force upon the international music scene that has been instrumental in the forming of genres that did not exist before their seminal releases defined entirely new descriptive terms of sound and song writing. They have been labeled as post-punk, new wave, synth-pop, rock, gothic, industrial, metal, and a combination of all of those things at once. They have been hugely influential on literally dozens of bands with many of the big players from all of the above mentioned genres having cited them as critical pioneers in their own development as musicians. Killing Joke represent an intense and powerful brand of music no matter which of their many releases you are listening to; whether it be a hard hitting song from the mid-nineties that now defines the industrial-metal style or one of the melancholic anthems that move the listener with a more gothic, new wave sensibility. My own personal history with Killing Joke started back in the mid-eighties when I was a young skate-punk, listening to a mix of true punk rock, early goth style bands, and stuff like Metallica. I had heard of Killing Joke before, but it wasn’t until Metallica put out the “Garage Days Revisted” EP with their cover of “The Wait” on it that I really got into them. I thought their cover version was so cool that I went and sought out the original artist and have been a fan of Killing Joke since. Over the years there have been some albums that I thought were cool and then some that were just mind blowingly awesome but no matter where they fell, they were always something different and worth the investment. The band has fluctuated quite often over the years with members leaving to pursue other endeavors or the band just being on hiatus while they applied their talents in other ways. Jaz Coleman, the front man and vocalist, has been one of the main focal points throughout their entire three and half decade career. In recent years, the band has put out two full length albums that are as powerful and poignant as anything they have released over the years and this being with the original founding lineup once more united. The current tour celebrates thirty five years in conjunction with a three disc boxed set collecting their many singles over the years. This opens up a dream set list spanning that entire time frame. With their original lineup on stage, they played the songs from the early eighties that gave them their start all the way through to some of the best songs off their newer material. As the curtain rose, the band took the stage. Geordie Walker took the left side of the stage with his hollow-body electric guitar. Paul Ferguson on drums in the rear center of the stage was flanked on the far right by the only non-original member, Reza Udhin from the electronic industrial band Inertia playing keyboards. Martin Glover, or Youth as he is commonly known, stood at the front of the stage on the right side with his bass guitar. Jaz Coleman came out with a wild-man’s stare, his arms out to the sides and raised slightly as if he were about to pounce. He opened his mouth in a toothy grimace as if a dragon about to blow fire. The fire came in the form of his lyrics rather than literal flames as they broke into the first song of the night, “Requiem” off of their debut self-titled release from 1980. The song was at once powerful and aggressive and instantly brought back all the memories of listening to this album for the first time so long ago. The sound was perfect in terms of blending of instruments and the sound from each musician. Jaz has a unique vocal delivery that can vary from song to song, ranging from harsh growled lyrics, to melodic, even melancholic verses that can only be described as moving and beautiful. Their second song of the night was “Turn to Red” which dates back to the very origin of the band, the single being released in 1979. I don’t remember this song from my past listening but it was awesome live and fit right in with all of their more modern sounding material. They followed that up with “War Dance”, also coming from their first album. Jaz had this wild look in his eyes, mostly staring straight forward as he marched in place. He really did not interact with the audience or his band mates or even speak much the entire show, they just went straight from song to song and he would occasionally make snarling faces or open his mouth as if to breath fire or hiss like a dragon and then resume singing. As the show went on, his arm gestures got more and more animated but for “War Dance” he would only march and then raise his arm up on the chorus like a tomahawk raised for the kill. The fourth song saw time fly forward with a track off their 2010 release “Absolute Dissent”. “European Super State” was easily one of my favorite songs of the set, more electronic and melodic than a lot of the material and also just a super cool song. The lyrics, as with almost everything Jaz writes, are intelligent and poignant, reflecting on the formation of Europe into a civilized super state. “Madness” from 1981’s “What’s THIS For…!” featured a great staged chorus with the other band members joining in… “This is Madness!” Jaz would yell, “This is Madness!” a beat later would come from Youth, and then one last resound from Paul in the back “This is Madness!” which the audience would join in for. This song really got the audience swept up and although I was too enraptured by the performance to pay much attention to the other concert goers, I was aware of a mosh pit forming at points and the crowd moving to and fro. In 1990, Killing Joke put out, what would be for me personally, one of their more seminal albums with the release of “Extremities, Dirt, and Various Repressed Emotions”. Many cited this as the start of the Industrial-Metal sound along with Ministry’s “The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste” from around the same time period. “The Beautiful Dead” was one of the powerhouse songs from this album and it was great to get to see it live after so many years. The next two songs came from a time period of releases that I am not that familiar with. They did “Chop-Chop” and “Sun Goes Down” both originally released around 1982. They were both great songs live and even though I was not familiar with them, the rest of the audience certainly was and I was swept up in the moment regardless. They followed up these two with another stand out favorite, “Eighties”. When I was in college we would all gather in one of our group’s dorm rooms weekly and watch “120 Minutes” on MTV. At that time, a regular player, and favorite of ours was the video for “Money Is Not Our God”. This song has stuck with me ever since and I still find it going through my head at odd moments, like whenever I see anything of religious or political nature in the news that makes me groan with witnessing the greed of said enterprises. This is a true anthem that has been with me through life and has, I believe, helped me focus on what is really important. Seeing it live was everything I hoped it would be and definitely one of the stand out songs of the night. Killing Joke had already treated us to ten awesome songs and that could have been sufficient for everyone to walk away happy but instead of that being the finishing point, from here the concert only gets better! Another pinnacle in their career, and an album that I still play regularly, came out in 1994 entitled “Pandemonium”. This album encompassed Eastern sounds, apocalyptic lyrics, and just brilliant song writing. They played “Whiteout” off of this masterwork and the audience went crazy. They followed up with “Asteroid” off of their self-titled 2003 release. I was not very familiar with this song but it moved right out of the last song perfectly. Jaz introduced the next song by name which is more than he had said so far during the show. “Corporate Elect” comes off of their latest album “MMXII” which sees them in all their intelligent, aggressive glory pointing out that the elected officials have their hands in the pockets of the corporations and vice versa. Their new album is fantastic and I would have loved to see more material off of it but at least we got this one great song. The wait for the “The Wait” was over… the song that got me into them in the first place was better live than I could have ever imagined. I could not help but sing along and a large portion of the audience felt the same urge as the venue was filled with the resounding chorus. Thirty three years after its debut and it is still an awesome song. They finished off the monumental set with “Pandemonium” off the album of the same name. This is easily one of my favorite songs of theirs of any era and it was so good to hear it live. “I can see tomorrow, I can see the world to come”. The band left the stage briefly but the tumultuous roar from the audience alternating between “Killing Joke” and “We want more” brought them right back out. Jaz took a moment to say thanks for all the years and introduced Geordie, Youth, and Paul. He then said that a day does not go by that he does not think of his dear departed friend Raven (who used to play bass with them while Youth went off and did his mega-producer thing). With that introduction they went into “Love Like Blood”. Seriously, it was goose bumps. The song is one of their more melodic, melancholic songs and it was brilliant and moving, and definitely one of the best songs I have EVER seen live. Everyone would have been more than content to have that be the finale but these guys were not done yet. They pulled out two more songs from way back in the beginning. They played “Change” and “Pssyche” both more obscure songs that were B-sides to some of their first singles. Both songs were aggressive and one of them featured a growly vocal section sung by Paul Fergusson. It was a cool way to end the show and leave everybody with a little burst of energy before departing into the night. It was an awesome show to say the least and left me singing “Love Like Blood” to myself on the drive home and throughout the following days. I can’t believe that it took me this long to see a band I have listened to since 1987, but I finally have and they blew away my expectations. Their sheer performance and musicianship is astounding and having been so influential in my own musical upbringing and formation it really was a dream show.




































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