Live Review: Killing Joke

“Good evening, we're celebrating 35 years of Killing Joke!” Jaz Coleman proclaims, and so begins the onslaught as one of the most influential yet still underrated bands on the planet start with Requiem. There's a lot of grey hair on display with old punks, goths and rockers turning out to pay tribute to the heroes of their youth, but it has to be said the energy level of the crowd is nowhere near as high as that of the performers. There's a small knot of diehards slamming away on the floor in front of the stage, but otherwise it's pretty sedate. On stage it's a different story, however – Coleman looking lean and mean, in much better shape than on the band's last visit in 2004. He still has plenty of fire and brimstone left, bellowing out the lyrics to Wardance, shaking, glaring and providing an ominous presence as always. Youth looks like someone's dad on a summer holiday with his blue Hawaiian shirt and visor, although the “Sid Lives” t-shirt underneath and his tireless pounding basslines and lively stage presence soon counteract this impression. Innovative guitarist Geordie Walker is as cool as they come, casually coaxing scything riffs from his classic gold hollow-bodied Gibson ES-295 without breaking a sweat. Axewound and ex-Pitchshifter drummer Jason Bowld fills in for Paul Ferguson, who couldn't play on this tour due to tendonitis, and does well, frantically hammering out the tribal, stomping beats that underpin so many of Killing Joke's apocalyptic anthems. 

Dedicated to the memory of bassist Paul Raven, Love Like Blood is played early on, when most bands would probably have saved what is arguably their biggest (but not necessarily best) song for the encore. Killing Joke have never been a band to do things by the book, and, of course, that's part of their appeal. The set is a really powerful collection of songs spanning their long history and the best part is that Rapture, Asteroid, Corporate Elect and The Death & Resurrection Show from their more recent albums are just as good, or better, than their early songs. Not many bands can lay claim to such a feat after 35 years, making this much more than an exercise in nostalgia. As far as the classics go, The Wait sounds absolutely pulverising and Eighties, Whiteout, Change and Pssyche are all highlights, sounding much more menacing live than on the original recorded versions. Coleman is fiery all evening, expressing his pleasure that there was rally here against Monsanto, introducing Eighties with: “Two decades ago it was still a time of hope, we still believed in people like Peter Garrett. What happened there?” and commenting before The Beautiful Dead that “People ask what's different now from 30 years ago … There's not as much rebellion, nobody's got any rebellion left in them, you're all zombies!” As if to prove his point there's barely a murmur from the audience in protest. 

The downside to tonight's gig is the mix. It's very bass-heavy, and not in a good way. The sound improves the closer you get to the stage, but it's pretty dismal behind the mixing desk, particularly through the first half of the set, when loud and distorted bass guitar overshadows the guitar, keyboards and even drums. It's only closer to the front of stage that the sound is more balanced, due to the direct sound from the backline. The venue dimensions and listening location are always a factor in such things, but some of the fault has to rest with the sound engineer who simply gets the mix balance wrong. It's a shame when the band are giving it their all and have no control over what the audience is hearing.  

Killing Joke are working on a new album, so hopefully they'll be back again. Based on this inspirational performance and their last four albums they're not only every bit as vital and relevant as they were in the earlier part of their career, but also still pushing the boundaries and producing some of their best work.