1,269 KILLING JOKE, London Royal Albert Hall, Sunday 12th March 2023

(Should've been mine! But at least she let me get a pic of it...)

The hosts of my first ever gig, the brutal, uncompromising force of nature (think earthquakes, hurricanes, that type of force…) that are original primal punk survivors Killing Joke, announced a special performance at London’s prestige Royal Albert Hall, showcasing their first 2 albums, the eponymous primal assault of “Killing Joke” and the industrial sheet-metal synth and tumbling tribal rhythm of “What’s This For?” (the second of which, of course, they were promoting as a new release, waaaay back at that landmark June 1981 gig no. 1!), so I was in like a shot! Having seen them do this exact same thing at Kentish Town Forum back in 2008 (gig 756), I was hoping that time hadn’t diminished their fire, and this would be another “savage yet euphoric” celebration of two of the most influential albums of that immediate post-punk era. Floor standing for me for this one too; this music deserved to be experienced, not just heard, Wardancing in the melee with the other Joke acolytes…

 Knowing that I could take a battering, I prepared in advance; so, lenses and shorts firmly in place, and otherwise held together with neoprene and painkillers, I set off mid-afternoon, the usual Osterley parking and tube seeing me at Gloucester Road tube for 5.30. Went to the wrong pub first (!) but met up with friends Steve and Caz in the Gloucester Arms, also happily bumping into old punk buddy “Plum”, whom I’d not seen for donkey’s years! Some catching up and reminiscing of our misspent punk youth later, I left them in the pub (they had balcony seats so could rock up anytime) and wandered round, being sent round to Door 6 (the longest queue, of course…) but still in just before 7 and snagging a decent spot a row or 2 back from the barrier, house left. Had a phone call from old friend Doug too, and waved at him in his first tier box seat, in this ridiculously grand and opulent venue. No proper support, just DJ James Lavelle (who he?) unfortunately playing some annoying ambient dance. Whiled away the time chatting to a couple of affable blokes all the way from Norwich; this was truly a tribal gathering!

 Floor space was at a premium and anticipation palpable as showtime neared; finally, the lights dimmed and The Joke took the stage, the original line-up tonight, with wild-haired, black boiler-suit clad madman-in-chief Jaz Coleman last on. The strident, startling synth pulse of “Requiem” kicked in, the place popping like a cork from a bottle as the mosh surged forward enthusiastically. But then, there’s always one dickhead…

 I was swept forward by the mosh tide and into the back of a flat-capped guy on the barriers, whom we shall henceforth refer to as The Twat In The Hat… Rather like that idiot at the Hold Steady gig in 2018 (gig 1,076), TTITH reacted as if I’d assaulted him, raped his mum and kicked his cat all at once, turning on me, wild-eyed and furious and aiming a punch which happily missed… when it happened again, he leant on the barriers and donkey-kicked at me, luckily missing my bad knee. I moved to the right to get away from TTITH, as he furiously lashed out at anyone within punch-throwing distance (not just me, then…). A bouncer intervened, which calmed matters for a short while, but when the moshpit-catnip 5^th number “The Wait” kicked in, TTITH again lashed out at random folks, at which point an unidentified hand divested him of his hat and threw it behind into the mosh…! TT (no longer) ITH then went utterly nuclear, upon which the bouncers finally removed him to cheers from all and sundry. 

Meanwhile, a gig was going on…! The band were “on it”, sounding tight and together; Jaz’s stentorian roar, wild-eyed manic stare and jerky hand gestures were a feature; however, from my mosh vantage point, the sound mix was a little muddy, indistinct and not so stridently loud and powerful as I’d hoped, particularly on the slower, less synth-based numbers such as an early “Tomorrow’s World” or “SO36”. No matter, I was still enjoying myself, immersed in a frenzy of furiously rocking Joke devotees, 16 again in my head, and back at Under 18 Brunel… “The Wait” was stunning; getting seven shades of shit kicked out of me never seemed so euphoric! And despite occasionally bordering on the violent and brutal, the mosh was largely good-natured and thoroughly inclusive, cheers responding to my occasional between-song shouts of, “everyone OK?”

 The sound actually improved for Joke’s “What’s This For?” run-through, the pounding beat of “Tension” and tribal/industrial tumbling drums of “Unspeakable” a feature, Jaz on the lip of the stage, all St. Vitus Dance dramatic shakes, as the backdrop screen showed old Godzilla movie scenes and apocalyptic footage, augmenting the tense, claustrophobic mood of the material. The synth-snap of “Follow The Leaders” was a rampaging singalong, and “This Is Madness” saw a roaring call and response, before the manic slashing riffery of the cranked up, amped up maelstrom of “Exit” drew this utterly immersive set to a close.

 

The 4-song encore also chose from that late 70’s era; the taut, underlying repetitive funk riff of “Change”, an unfortunately thin sounding yet still jet-propelled “Are You Receiving?”, then a seethingly angry and embittered “Psyche”, the final verse couplet of “look at the controller, a nazi with a social degree” written over 40 years ago yet horrifyingly prescient to these troubled times, all but referencing the vile likes of Sunak and Braverman by name… The slogan “Killing Joke Confirm Your Worst Fears” played across the screen as the band took their bows, Jaz roaring his approval as he left the stage, then I, sweaty and dishevelled, caught my breath and checked I still had all my limbs, before just missing out on a list (drummer Paul Ferguson, who’d really put in a shift, returned to the side of the stage and heard my entreatments for his final list, unmooring it and giving it to the girl in front of me. Bah!). Met up with Steve and Caz in the lobby for a ride back to the car and quick blast home, back to the ‘don for a red-eyed 1.20. Yikes! Battered and sore for a couple of days afterwards, but glad I immersed myself in the mosh; as I mentioned, this was one to be experienced. So I did. The Joke’s still on you!

844 KILLING JOKE, The Icarus Line, Bristol O2 Academy, Tuesday 5 March 2012

A 2 Part “Mad March to Bristol” with the Big Man this year; SLF, as usual, comes later in the month, but first a return for Killing Joke, hosts of my first gig back in the Summer of 1981, and back on my gig radar thanks to a couple of recent thunderous performances. If this one lived up to those standards, particularly the awesome 2008 Forum rendition of their first 2 cacophonous albums, this gig might really threaten to unmoor the O2 Academy from its’ foundations, with vocalist and main (mad) man Jaz Coleman no doubt laughing manically in the rubble. We’ll see...

Given dodgy support bands, Rich and I set off late for this one, just after 7.30. However, we unfortunately still hit the venue for the last knockings of The Icarus Line’s primitive swampy rock howl of a set, which was met with complete indifference by the disappointingly sparse crowd. However we got a drink and ran into old punk friend Debbie, before grabbing our usual stage left spot and watching the place fill up.

Killing Joke joined us at 9.15 prompt, to the backing sound of mysterious chanting; the original line-up, this, with imposing guitarist Geordie leading the band on, and the crazed, black boiler-suited and comparatively diminutive form of Jaz Coleman last on, once again made up to resemble a chainsaw-toting killer clown. However, far from this being the anticipated extreme, brutal rock assault, we had a very subdued opening; it rocked, sure, but with nothing like the visceral intensity that Killing Joke are well capable of. An early number dedicated to, “our dads,” was low-key to the point of sentimentality, and even Jaz’ crazed St. Vitus Dance and usual facial contortions seemed reined-in. Half a dozen numbers in, the tumbling tribal beat of oldie “Unspeakable” briefly threatened to kick-start a moribund gig into life, with Jaz spitting the hook with more bile and venom, and newie “Rapture”, a chugging rocker, kept the momentum up. “Bloodsport” followed, “for a friend of ours who likes to hunt while listening to Killing Joke!” but was again a little subdued, although the subsequent “Chop Chop” from “Revelations”, their 3rd album (which Jaz introduced by saying, “we haven’t played this one since 1982!”) was a pounding, metallic growl and the set highlight thus far.

My Joke experience doesn’t extend much beyond those first 3 albums, and certainly not into their nu-metal noise output of recent times, so it’s probably as much down to me that I found the set occasionally heavy going, delving into proto sheet-metallic noise. However I was expecting a mix of the awesome and awful; what I didn’t expect was vast swathes of, well, average-ness, from this primal force of nature. A lot of the set was simply alright, which was a major disappointment. 1 hour 10 in, we finally got “The Wait” (“a 1 hour 10 minute "Wait",” I remarked to Rich), which blew the doors off, and set closer “Pssyche” (“traditions must be maintained,” announced Jaz) was superb, a reckless, careering and savage march. The final encore denouement was the radioactive synth pulse of oldie “Requiem”, which also rounded off the gig on a positive but puzzling note, as Jaz seemed to suddenly down tools at the end, as if fed up with something, and snarl a cursory, “goodnight,” before exiting the stage. Hmmm.

So, this was one definitely for the Killing Joke purists and die-hards, but overall a patchy and ultimately disappointing showing for me. And thanks to motorway bridgeworks and practically invisible “Diversion” signs, we ended up having to go West on the M4 and turn around by the old Severn Bridge! Then, the motorway was shut (again) so we ended up trolling through Malmesbury and Wootton Bassett, taking over twice as long as usual to get home. Is Bristol turning into the reverse equivalent of late 90’s London; you can’t get here from there?

1. KILLING JOKE, Ski Patrol, Stroud Leisure Centre, Saturday 27 June 1981

(I had this poster on my wall until it fell to pieces... just found it on killingjokeoncerts.blogspot.com, photo courtesy of Peter Webb...!)

My first ever gig saw me, a skinny young renta-punk a few days past my 16th birthday, taking the train to Stroud with a gang of punks and loafing around Stroud before the gig!

Snuck into the back of the hall as the band were soundchecking and asked passing Killing Joke vocalist Jaz what his real name was; he replied, "Jaz".

Finally got into the hall and hung around, chatting to a member of Bristol punk band Vice Squad down the front. Ski Patrol were an unexciting support, but I stayed down the front for Killing Joke and got crushed under the weight, both of frenzied moshing punk rockers, and of the mighty sinister rhythmic noise of the powerful Killing Joke set! Climbed onstage with a few others and hung on for dear life behind Jaz' keyboards.

A real visceral experience to start my gig career! Got driven back by friend Doug's dad afterwards, sweaty but elated after my first ever gig! The setlist is likely to have been something like Wardance/Follow The Leaders/Change/Exit/Requiem/Unspeakable/Fall Of Because/Primitive/Bloodsport/The Wait/Pssyche/Turn To Red/Tension, as this was the set they played in Amsterdam the following week.

3 KILLING JOKE, Aztec Camera, UK Decay, Charge, London Hammersmith Palais, Tuesday 23 February 1982

Took a trip on Rimes Coaches for my first London gig, a very eclectic bill in the huge and imposing Hammersmith Palais.

Firstly, Charge's bass player, who gloried in the name of Stu.P.Didiot (!), sported fishnet stockings and a short leather skirt, as they blasted through a ramalama leather and studs punk rock set, albeit one more tuneful than the likes of contemporaries Discharge, Anti Pasti et al. UK Decay, next up, were superb, with a very haunting, proto-gothic set of moody little tunes featuring werewolves and the like.

Aztec Camera were totally out of place in the punky audience with their inoffensive but inappropriate pop. Roddy Frame introduced a number as, "this is called "Just Like Gold", but I think I should rename it, "Just Like Gob"," as punk spit rained down on him.

Killing Joke were once again dark, sinister, edgy and mighty, mainly promoting their recent, more song based "Revelations" LP, with the speedy "Land Of Milk And Honey" a highlight. The Joke setlist was The Hum/ The Fall Of Because/ Wardance/ We Have Joy/ Empire Song/ Have A Nice Day/ Tension/ Chapter III/ Pssyche/ Chop Chop/ Exit/ Land Of Milk And Honey/ Change/ The Wait/ Unspeakable

700 KILLING JOKE, Plus Support, Oxford Zodiac, Tuesday 2 May 2006

Yup, that does read Killing Joke! The hosts of the first ever gig I went to, back in 1981 when I was a skinny barely 16 year old punk rocker. Since then the Joke and I have gone slightly separate ways, but my recent revisiting of my rock roots (in the absence of anything current to excite me) has coincided with the Joke's acknowledgement as a major influence on the current rock landscape. So, a Joke gig? Yeah, why not?

With the Big Man in Cornwall and Rachel not too keen, I talked my brother into coming along. So I wrested him from his new "500 pound gulley cat" and we headed off to Oxford, hitting the venue just after 8 and joining the old punks and nu-metal Slipknot fans at the bar. I didn't remember the support 3-piece's name, and certainly don't remember their shouty nu-metal mess. Thankfully their set was short!

The Joke, however, kept us waiting a further 3/4 hour before vocalist Jaz Coleman took the stage, boiler suited and with red and black face paint, looking like a cross between Ric Flair after a cage match, and a horror film evil clown. Following a preamble about not having played in Oxford for 20+ years due to its proximity to hated hometown Cheltenham, they tore into jagged, regimented opener "Communion". Then, an incredible "Wardance", and we were away.

Late 70's, Killing Joke were a band out of time, the ferocity of the guitar attack extreme even for punk, and their occasional 8 or 9 minute metronomic forays into pseudo-electronica definitely out of step with the prevalent 3 minute 3-chord wonders of the time. However nowadays they make more sense, as proto-metal, post (pre?) grunge anthems. Taking you back, and forward at the same time, as my brother commented... Jaz was a mesmerising presence throughout; late 40's he may be, but he howled his vocals with frightening intensity, body twitching and seething, eyes wild and staring in a contorted mask of hate. Then between songs, he joked about nearly crashing the van the other night! Barking mad.

Mid-set, based on current CD "Hosannas From The Basement Of Hell", dragged somewhat, as the Joke seemed more to sound like their imitators, with harsh nu-metal. However, oldie "The Wait" changed all that, thrilling, ferocious and intense, and "Psyche" saw me join the moshpit, 14 years old and back at Under 18 Brunel again.

Encores featured another couple of oldies, to round off a 1 1/2 hour+ set veering from the frankly awful to the frankly awesome; a set of extremes, just what you'd expect from this extreme band! Hung around for a few minutes after, and their young drummer sorted out the band to sign my set-list! Result! Left late at 11.30, happy and vindicated. For so long I'd been a little doubtful and even embarrassed about Killing Joke having been my first ever gig. No longer. This mighty beast can still show the current crop how to play intense and powerful rock. The Joke is still on you!

756 KILLING JOKE, Treponem Pal, plus support, London Kentish Town Forum, Friday 3 October 2008

Following my recent Joke resurrection, I'd have been interested about any future gig by the hosts of my first ever gig, back in June 1981. But when I heard that they were showcasing their first 2 albums on one night, his became an absolute must! So Rich and I booked tix and days off, so we could be totally prepared for the inevitable aural assault from this unique, savage and primal punk noise band, whom one of their own members described as sounding, "like the earth vomiting"!

Left at 4.15 and parked up by the venue just after 7, in time for Rich to get chips before we hit the venue for drinkies. Found a superb viewing spot behind the mixing desk (I'd deduced - correctly - that the floor would be 100% manic mosh, and my dodgy knee should probably give that a miss) and stayed there all night!

The problem with being true musical innovators is that many will subsequently take your sonic template then right royally screw it up. Thus it was with the 2 joke-influenced supports - one was shouty post-EMO hardcore, with a vocalist who believed "performance" meant poncing about and taking your shirt off, and the second were a clumsy proto nu-metal mess who frankly sounded like a walrus taking a dump. At least we enjoyed spotting the misquoted lyric during band 2 - my faves included, "I'm the flake machine," and, "In the planet of gas, here I am with a post up my ass"! Rich and I thought that if he'd enacted the latter, the entertainment value would rise a thousand-fold! Actually, however, the most entertaining thing was that Rich appeared to be standing next to Tony Stark (as portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the recent "Iron Man" movie), so much so that I wanted to ask him to say, "I prefer the weapon you only have to fire... ONCE!" but I was afraid he'd zap me with a repulsor ray or something...!

Tomfoolery over, on to the serious business. The place by now was heaving and rapturously chanting in anticipation of the Joke's arrival, which came at 9.30 to a gothic Wagnerian soundtrack - guitarist Geordie and drummer Paul; white-clad and oddly visored bassist Youth (rocking his Orb look rather than his Joke roots), then finally the unhinged presence of frontman Jaz Coleman, boiler suited and, with joker make-up smeared across his demonic features, yet considerably trimmer even than a couple of years ago. The original Killing Joke line-up, back together for the first time since, ooh, God knows when...

And straight into the hypnotic synth pulse of "Requiem", a strident anthemic opener to ignite the floor-wide mosh, which then went even wilder for the metronomic military march of "Wardance". A relentless pace immediately established - and maintained!

The first 2 Killing Joke albums sounded like nothing else around at the time, veering between guitar-overladen anthemic yet brutal punk attacks, synth workouts with tribal beat overloads, and sinister drawn-out metronomic symphonies. So we got the lot tonight, punctuated by Jaz' lunatic exhortations that 9/11 was, "an inside job," and railings against, "the system," oddly enough still relevant now as back in the Thatcherite late-70s. "Complications" was an amazing mosh-fueller, but that was even topped by an unexpected "Eighties", filling the gap between the primal first album and the more coherent, beats-driven second "What's This For?". "Tension", a rocking beat-down stomper, was great, and "Unspeakable" creepy and sinewy, but the epic single "Follow The Leaders" sounded as harsh, raw and eerily catchy as ever.

Rip-roaring rocker "The Wait", delayed from the first album run-through to the set-end, and a titanic "Pssyche" rounded off a relentless set, before a totally unexpected and very fitting "Love Like Blood", which followed a very well observed minute's silence for early Joke member, the late Paul Raven. The funk stomp of "Change" and a brilliant "Are You Receiving?" finished a magnificent, brutally savage yet euphoric 1 1/2 hours. We got lost around St. John's Wood on the way home and didn't get back till 1.30, but who cares? This was one of the greats.