[kj] Milan report

[Luca Signorelli]

TB ha scritto:

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YftaHMpQ4II

>

> It's horribly clipped due to the volume and I can't for the life of me 

> figure out which song it is.

>


It's a real shame the sound is so horrible, as SO36 was one of the 
highlights of a fantastic night.

Here's some random thought on the Milan show (first night, 19/9 )

First the obvious question - yes, Big Paul makes all the difference of 
the world. His style is simply so personal, his drumming so much "up 
there" than you can't help feeling that his presence was sorely missed, 
particularly on stage . Which for me is a big personal satisfaction, as 
I've always felt KJ needed Paul, and no one else behind the drums (this 
includes Dave Grohl). Big Paul is Big Paul, as much as - on a completely 
different context - Dave Lombardo is Dave Lombardo.

The boys look in excellent form, particularly Jaz, which is now back in 
a lean & mean top notch shape, very focused, calm, but still with that 
unmistakable thing floating behind the surface. He looks younger than 
I've ever seen in ages. Geordie suffered some minor technical  problem 
in Milan (not his fault) that made the start of the show a bit rambling, 
but once they were solved, he did the amazing guitar work you've come to 
expect from him (I'm really spoiled when it comes to Geordie!).  I 
hand't seen Youth since that  fateful Turin gig back in 1981,  so  I 
can't make comparisons, but live he's simply great. I've already told 
about Big Paul - by the way, he looks like he didn't age one single day 
since the last time I saw him (1989!). Is there a pattern here?

The gig was wonderful. The Rolling Stone club (the last time I saw KJ 
there was 22 years ago!) was packed, very varied attendance in age, sex 
and dressing code. I was there with wife and daughter, and we looked 
like an average Italian family who had simply popped in by mistake - I 
believe some people was REALLY puzzled seeing me wildly dance for the 
entire duration of the gig!

The song list - oh gawd, where do I start? The idea to play the fist 
album and "What's This For" back to back in the order the songs were 
recorded (with some minor variation) turned out to have been excellent. 
The song form a natural progression that begs to be used live. Opening 
grandeur with Requiem, wild (war) dancing with War Dance, two "disco 
from hell" moment with Tomorrow's World (what a cool song!) and 
Bloodsport, then Complications (with Jaz screaming "Pasta price has gone 
up 30%!!!" - everybody laughed), then one of the highlight of the show, 
SO36, great, great song (my daughter was all wide eyed at this point). I 
noticed that "The Wait" was missing, but I just tought about the 
encores, and it was "Primitive feelings, primitive ways" as you may have 
guessed.

The first part of the show has a distinctive happy feeling (albeit 
distinctively malignant!) and make for a great warm up. Eighties was the 
bridge between the first and the part. This was the moment when memories 
of THAT Geneva show in november 1983 (the night they played Eighties 
live for the first time - most amazing gig I've ever seen in my life) 
came almost unexpected. And with that, memories of Raven (but this is 
not the place to talk about this)

I mentioned Geordie's problem with monitors - by this time he was 
starting to get upset, which is always a good thing for his guitar 
playing. So I shouldn't have been surprised when "The Fall of Because" 
LITERALLY hit me like a ton of bricks right in my neck. My daughter 
declares Fall was the greatest moment of the show - I still think the 
entire show was the highest moment of the show, but I can see her point. 
FoB is simply SCORCHING - deadly stuff, and the introduction to the most 
intense sequence of songs world has ever heard. Tension was just 
slightly less brutal, but it may have been just me, because at this 
point my brain was just gone in a state of complete panic - the next 
song, the next song... I've been waiting sooo long to hear it again...

And the next song came - Unspeakable. When the 
wwwwwooooooooooooooohhhhhh of the synth introduction started I wanted to 
scream (well, I did scream, but no one heard me). I couldn't get my eyes 
of Jaz - he really changes when singing this one. Actually, everyone 
changes - it's just like that. When you'll hear it, you'll know why

After that I was thinking - ok, the Butcher. But I didn't recognize the 
intro of the next song, and - knowing that they have brand new stuff 
ready - I thought it was a new song thrown in for good measure. But then 
Jaz started "WHO TOLD YOU HOW WHO TOLD YOU HOW WHO TOLD YOU HOW". I had 
simply forgot about that one! And it was a blast, I had never imagined 
it would sound sooo cool live (and so different!). Memories after this 
get a bit hazy - maybe it was the non stop dancing, maybe the aftershock 
of Unspeakable, don't know. Madness was another highlight (great 
singalong by the crowd), as Exit (complete with dog barking!) and Follow 
The Leader, which in the years as become far, far harder stuff than what 
was recorded in What's This For. And Butcher. Oh boy, Butcher. That's 
another one that live goes a million times better.

Encore time - The Wait (poor, clueless, pitiful Metallica, what DID they 
were thinking?), Changes (more singalong), Are You Receiving, Psyche and 
then, out of the blue.... Asteroid!!!! At this point even I had problems 
keeping the pace, and if they could had "Folks Songs From The Spanish 
Inquisition" instead I would have continued dancing nonetheless, so even 
a song a bit "different" from the rest of the set was welcome and gave 
me a big smile. The crowd was simply mad - they had been sucked into. 
Great, great Killing Joke magic, they're the exclusive on that (Sex 
Pistols in Turin last June was a great experience, but this is simply on 
another level)

The bottom line? Wonderful gig, the amazing band we've always loved in a 
top form, great vibe, great fun, you must not miss it. I know that this 
may sound the rants of an old time gatherer (one of the oldest, I'm 
being told!) and yes, this is precisely what it is - I'm proud of my 
total adoration of these guys and their music. Milan just confirmed all 
I've thought about them. And it's no any nostalgia trip. KJ music at its 
best works now, and is relevant now as it was 30 years ago - my daughter 
is a confirmed techno/electro freak, but she loved every minute of it. 
This almost eternal quality (wich is the trademark of all great 
artistry) is the most treasured feeling I will take with me when I'll 
rememeber this night in Milan.