[kj] Youth Hates Hosannas

Fri Nov 20 12:48:03 EST 2015

Well, I'll tell you:

I've seen KJ about 20 times, not counting next spring. More times than most, fewer times than many, but pretty good for someone in the US. One of the reasons I like KJ is that they don't simply try to reproduce their songs on stage; rather, they agitate and enrage and edify and inspire. I don't want them to be perfect; I want them teetering on the brink and they have generally obliged.

I never realized how much BPF was the missing piece of that band until I saw the first reunion in 2008. Prior to that, they had employed a succession of competent bashers who kept time but offered little else (with maybe the exception of Benny). For some reason KJ have the bad habit of touring the States in winter, and that can't be fun for them. They hit Milwaukee in '04 in the middle of a blizzard and on the night of a huge Packers game, booked in the sad basement space of the much larger Eagles club upstairs. I drove four hours from Mpls and there were maybe 70 people there, mostly to see the woeful openers, Amen. Raven couldn't be bothered to play his actual bass lines, Geordie was simply not present and Jaz was obviously sick; they should have just cancelled. He quacked like a duck for a half hour while Parsons struggled to find a groove which continually eluded him until they gave up and walked off with no encore, not that I was expecting one.

This is not so much a criticism of KJ but an acknowledgement that they are human and sometimes our idols stumble, for whatever reason. They paid me back in spades the next night in Mpls and put on a great show, although I'm still no fan of Ted Parsons. The first of three gigs in Chicago this last tour where they surprised us with an under-rehearsed Jason Bowld was also lacking but they again completely reversed my expectations the following night. There was a saying about local heroes The Replacements back in the day, how you would either see the greatest rock'n'roll show ever, or you'd see drunken bums stumbling around a stage for ten minutes playing KISS covers. And there's no middle ground with KJ either, for different reasons. And that's why I have followed them for over 30 years.

As you were.

________________________________
From: Gathering <gathering-bounces at misera.net> on behalf of adrianwason at btinternet.com <adrianwason at btinternet.com>
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2015 11:27 AM
To: A list about all things Killing Joke \(the band!\)
Subject: Re: [kj] Youth Hates Hosannas

why was that then?
----Original message----
>From : kjlist at live.com
Date : 20/11/2015 - 16:22 (GMTST)
To : gathering at misera.net
Subject : Re: [kj] Youth Hates Hosannas

The worst Killing Joke gig ever was Milwaukee in 2004.

I know,  I was there. [??]

Thankfully, they made up for it the next night in Minneapolis.

________________________________
From: Gathering <gathering-bounces at misera.net> on behalf of Neil Perry <65snoopy at gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2015 4:36 AM
To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)
Subject: Re: [kj] Youth Hates Hosannas

Yes the Koko, that was it. What a grim evening. I remember being briefly excited when the
drums of Unspeakable started up, as they hadn't played that for a long time, before it descended
into 4 minutes of mushy chaos and out-of-tune vocals. Still, you've gotta have the lows to appreciate
the highs...

On 19 November 2015 at 19:12, adrianwason at btinternet.com<mailto:adrianwason at btinternet.com> <adrianwason at btinternet.com<mailto:adrianwason at btinternet.com>> wrote:
that was at the Koko and it was definitely the worst sound I've ever heard at a killing joke gig and that's saying something. I couldn't even make out one of the tracks - which I later by a process of elimination decided was Majestic
----Original message----
>From : 65snoopy at gmail.com<mailto:65snoopy at gmail.com>
Date : 19/11/2015 - 10:11 (GMTST)
To : gathering at misera.net<mailto:gathering at misera.net>
Subject : Re: [kj] Youth Hates Hosannas

That's an interesting take on the whole thing. Never thought of it like that.

When was that gig in Camden when it was just Jaz and Geordie plus two other blokes?
I thought that really was the end of the line - amazing how such a turnaround happened, considering.

On 18 November 2015 at 20:55, fatpotanga . <fatpotanga at gmail.com<mailto:fatpotanga at gmail.com>> wrote:

Totally agree Alex. It's crap and the title video is embarrassing.
I have often thought that if Raven hadn't died, they'd have self destructed.
In some ways ravens metal connections saved them by giving the band a platform and a new audience and his untimely death saved them again, healed wounds and brought everything full circle. A phoenix from the ashes.

On 18 Nov 2015 18:57, "Alexander Smith" <vassifer at earthlink.net<mailto:vassifer at earthlink.net>> wrote:
Forgive me if it's already been discussed, but I finally picked up the VIVE LE ROCK issue with the `Joke on the cover (it takes a while for these things to reach the States) and was heartened to hear Youth echo my frequently expressed sentiment that HOSANNAS is a crap record. He blames it on the drinking at the time.

Alex in NYC
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