[kj] Killing Joke at The Wiltern
Paul Rangecroft
paul.rangecroft at gmail.com
Sun Dec 19 19:00:08 EST 2010
Maybe not gig of the year but probably gig report of the year anyway.
Thanks. Funny that they got Geordie a cake!
On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 5:52 PM, TB <planetary at socal.rr.com> wrote:
> Finally after just over a year of holding on to my ticket, saw the mighty
> Killing Joke at The Wiltern.
>
> So much in just the last couple weeks seemed to conspire to add up to a
> mediocre show if not it being canceled altogether. From the
> tour being rescheduled back last Spring to poor publicity for the show
> booked optimistically in a great if clearly too big for the
> band venue to Youth leaving the tour last week to this being the 5th show
> in 5 grueling nights without a break to the utterly
> miserable weather last night, it seemed like everything was conspiring to
> sabotage the final show of this tour. I can happily say,
> that did not happen.
>
> After a frankly harrowing drive from Huntington Beach to LA in constant
> wind and rain, I got to the Wiltern about 7pm. Much to my
> surprise, there was only about 20 people lined up (usually by 7pm, there's
> a couple hundred or more lined up depending on the band).
> Bringing an umbrella was probably the single smartest thing I did as they
> didn't open the doors 'til 8pm and some people who came
> unprepared were soaked in a matter of minutes standing out there. Getting
> my ticket from Will Call was no problem although the guy
> didn't ask for ID and initially handed me two tickets (I came alone).
>
> Once inside, it was a long 1 1/2 hours 'til the opening band came on. The
> place was *very* slow to fill up and even by the time
> Killing Joke came on, you could still get a pit wristband and the place was
> only about 40% filled. The merch booth was out of shirts
> except for some larges and XXLs. Bootleggers outside The Wiltern were
> peddling a decent looking rip-off shirt of the "Courtauld
> Talks" art that was better'n the official shirts sold inside.
>
> The opening band was surprisingly decent which means they weren't great but
> at least they weren't "Amen" who opened for KJ in 2003
> and was laughably bad. Performing mostly instrumentals, they came off as
> sort of like a weird cross between Bauhaus and I dunno,
> The Doors although they looked like typical slackers from Seattle. At one
> point several of us in the pit yelled "Who Are You?" and
> the bassist/singer mumbled something about "I'm not gonna tell you." Dude
> needs to get some stage presence.
>
> Sp Killing Joke comes on around 10:30 and opens with Tomorrow's World
> followed by Love Like Blood as usual for this tour. The
> rather disjointed setlist seems haphazard on paper but it flowed pretty
> well live. Band sounded superb although at times it seemed
> like they were playing to a big empty hall considering the audience at
> times was pretty sedate even for a less than half full venue.
> The sound mix up front was excellent - I stood about 5 people back in the
> pit just off center on Geordie's side so I could hear his
> guitar straight from his amp cut through the PA mix. It was rather
> interesting that the band packed their gear really tightly
> together on the large stage as if they were playing a tiny club stage.
>
> We got the standard set for the North American leg of the tour, no
> surprises and the encore was Eighties and Pandemonium. It really
> seemed the band was very focused on delivering a solid, tight, no-nonsense
> performance. The minor downside was the show lacked a
> certain sense of wild unpredictability like what I saw in '03 when it
> seemed like the band was going to go off the rails at any
> moment.
>
> Jaz was very talkative in-between songs although not as truly manic as I've
> seen him in past shows, especially the '03 show I
> caught. His vocals were solid the entire night. Geordie stuck with
> bottled water the whole show. The substitute Bass Dude really
> did a solid job and was wearing a "Where Is Youth" shirt. Speaking of
> Youth, I didn't hear anyone around me wonder about his
> absence and I don't think Jaz really acknowledged his absence. But the big
> star of the gig had to have been Big Paul - absolutely
> storming on drums, even more impressive than at the '08 show I caught, imo.
> He is really the glue and engine driving the band right
> now.
>
> The new songs came across really well live. I can see why the band plays
> "The Great Cull" and "This World Hell" at the expense of
> perhaps better songs off the new album as Geordie clearly enjoys playing
> those two tunes. It's a shame Fresh Fever, In Excelsis,
> Raven King and Endgame have been dropped or never made it into the set as
> the rest of the new material is excellent live.
>
> Before the encore, Jaz led the audience in "Happy Birthday" for Geordie who
> also got a cake which was passed on to those up front
> and wound up all over people and the floor. Pandemonium wrapped up the
> show with Jaz thanking the audience and leaving the rest of
> the band to close out the song.
>
> Show ended about midnight leading to an even more gnarly drive home in
> driving rain and Saturday night drunks all over the road (I
> saw one car in front of me hydroplane and gently bounce off the center
> carpool lane rail on the 405 freeway).
>
> Here's the best of my mostly horrible photos from the show:
>
> http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h26/Partyslammer/KillingJokeWiltern3.jpg
>
> http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h26/Partyslammer/KillingJokeWiltern2.jpg
>
> http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h26/Partyslammer/KillingJokeWiltern1.jpg
>
> T.B.
>
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