"This shit will fuck you up."
-- Combichrist, This Shit Will Fuck You Up
So, I attended the KMFDM show the other day. I haven't written about it because I've been trying to put my thoughts in order on the topic.
Because, ultimately, I was not terribly impressed. And nothing vexes me more than disappointment.
Venue: The Regency Ballroom. The sound here was really not very good. The ballroom isn't constructed for loud music. It just isn't. Sound bounces all over and comes out as a mottled wash. A friend of mine with more experience than I suggested that more people would have better absorbed the sound issues... but that just sort of reinforces my opinion.
The lighting was mostly good... except for the gratuitous use of crowd blinders. That wasn't nice. And since they used them a lot, it was hard to even look at the stage for huge portions of the show.
And drinks were ten bucks a pop. Seriously. $10 for a Jack and Coke. It was a strong Jack and Coke. But it was still just one.
Don't get me wrong. The Regency Ballroom looks very nice and it would probably be great for performances with less volume and involving more dancing by the audience. For a concert, though, it was fairly awful.
Performances:
Human Factors Lab - These guys were actually fairly fun to watch. Their sound was a harsh industrial-metal with an extra helping of the metal. Their synth and keyboard players supplied rotary-grinders-on-metal pyrotechnics. I'm not sure how safe that was. But it was a fun touch. And they had a good strong energy throughout their performance. Ultimately, they were the best of the bunch.
16 Volt - Mostly speed metal with a touch of synth, though they refer to themselves as machine rock (and Wikipedia seems to have them classified as "industrial metal" which just seems radically inaccurate to me). They had a number of fans at the show - but they just seemed... Tame? Dull? Certainly not very industrial. And definitely very low energy. A disappointment compared to all the fan-love in attendance. As one guy near me said: "These guys aren't what I was led to believe."
Army of the Universe - The best way to describe these guys would be industrial-metal with a hyper-aggressive beat; which should have been awesome. The guitar-player was shredding some heavy riffs and the synth guy was fairly intense. But the singer seemed a little too... Dance-y? Sting-like? Full of himself? And here's the real problem: they tried to do a song that sounded an awful lot like that song from Suckerpunch... Only it wasn't as awesome. And my accomplices at the show suggested that every other song sounded like a bad cover of something done by someone else, but not as good as the source. I can't answer to that exactly, but it doesn't bode well.
KMFDM - The stars of the show may have been a little sabotaged by the sound issues at the venue... but they also seemed really, really low energy. And, unlike all the other bands, they didn't really interact with the crowd at all. They came out for an encore, but I'm tempted to believe that was mostly a result of lots of fans desperate to get their money's worth for the evening. At least that was my motivation.
So, final summation - overall the show was boring and not fun.
Maybe I was just having a shitty night? I don't feel like I was having a shitty night, but I do suppose that it's possible (though highly unlikely). Maybe I should stop hedging my opinion and just stick to the fact that I didn't have a good time and the tickets were a bit pricey for what little pleasure they brought me.
-- Mr. M.
-- Combichrist, This Shit Will Fuck You Up
So, I attended the KMFDM show the other day. I haven't written about it because I've been trying to put my thoughts in order on the topic.
Because, ultimately, I was not terribly impressed. And nothing vexes me more than disappointment.
Venue: The Regency Ballroom. The sound here was really not very good. The ballroom isn't constructed for loud music. It just isn't. Sound bounces all over and comes out as a mottled wash. A friend of mine with more experience than I suggested that more people would have better absorbed the sound issues... but that just sort of reinforces my opinion.
The lighting was mostly good... except for the gratuitous use of crowd blinders. That wasn't nice. And since they used them a lot, it was hard to even look at the stage for huge portions of the show.
And drinks were ten bucks a pop. Seriously. $10 for a Jack and Coke. It was a strong Jack and Coke. But it was still just one.
Don't get me wrong. The Regency Ballroom looks very nice and it would probably be great for performances with less volume and involving more dancing by the audience. For a concert, though, it was fairly awful.
Performances:
Human Factors Lab - These guys were actually fairly fun to watch. Their sound was a harsh industrial-metal with an extra helping of the metal. Their synth and keyboard players supplied rotary-grinders-on-metal pyrotechnics. I'm not sure how safe that was. But it was a fun touch. And they had a good strong energy throughout their performance. Ultimately, they were the best of the bunch.
16 Volt - Mostly speed metal with a touch of synth, though they refer to themselves as machine rock (and Wikipedia seems to have them classified as "industrial metal" which just seems radically inaccurate to me). They had a number of fans at the show - but they just seemed... Tame? Dull? Certainly not very industrial. And definitely very low energy. A disappointment compared to all the fan-love in attendance. As one guy near me said: "These guys aren't what I was led to believe."
Army of the Universe - The best way to describe these guys would be industrial-metal with a hyper-aggressive beat; which should have been awesome. The guitar-player was shredding some heavy riffs and the synth guy was fairly intense. But the singer seemed a little too... Dance-y? Sting-like? Full of himself? And here's the real problem: they tried to do a song that sounded an awful lot like that song from Suckerpunch... Only it wasn't as awesome. And my accomplices at the show suggested that every other song sounded like a bad cover of something done by someone else, but not as good as the source. I can't answer to that exactly, but it doesn't bode well.
KMFDM - The stars of the show may have been a little sabotaged by the sound issues at the venue... but they also seemed really, really low energy. And, unlike all the other bands, they didn't really interact with the crowd at all. They came out for an encore, but I'm tempted to believe that was mostly a result of lots of fans desperate to get their money's worth for the evening. At least that was my motivation.
So, final summation - overall the show was boring and not fun.
Maybe I was just having a shitty night? I don't feel like I was having a shitty night, but I do suppose that it's possible (though highly unlikely). Maybe I should stop hedging my opinion and just stick to the fact that I didn't have a good time and the tickets were a bit pricey for what little pleasure they brought me.
-- Mr. M.
RSS Feed
