You know, in this diminished light at times tonight Jaz Coleman reminds me of a curious mixture of both Steve Conte and Alice Cooper - good thing or bad thing, it's sadly probably only the latter of the two aforementioned artists can really lay claim to the same amount of recognition from other bands right across the board that Killing Joke can.  And let's not forget that Jaz whilst ever the phenomenal composer now lives on an island just off the New Zealand coast where he spends most of his time cultivating eco villages whilst it is also rumoured he has started his own church.

So with less than a week until the anniversary of the legendary Paul Raven's death, I'm faced, for the first time ever, with the original line-up of this outstanding post-punk / industrial outfit.  We've waited for over a year for Killing Joke to return to our stages but was it worth the wait?

The mostly male, mostly 40+, mostly drunk audience with craning tattooed necks certainly shake the foundations when the stage lights up red and Killing Joke literally flood the stage.  Opening with 'Tomorrow's World', I'm immediately left wondering why the sound levels are quite so quiet.  Paul Ferguson's primal drums however are outstanding even at a mere 6 instead of the full 11.

Rolling out 'Love Like Blood' and newbie 'In Excelsis' in second and third place certainly seemed to gear up the crowd and the levels might have even crept up to an 8 by the end of the latter song.  I have to own up right here though and say that hearing 'Love Like Blood' live it dicked all over any CD or Vinyl version I've ever heard - there is a power in that song live that literally had my inner punk hypnotised. 

Cherry picking their way thorough a fine set whilst showcasing tracks off their newest beast 'Absolute Dissent', you have to marvel at Killing Joke's ability to keep their fans attention stage bound at all times.  Coleman struts and taunts and fixes his followers with a demented stare.  'Ghost of Ladbroke Grove' sees Coleman carve up the stage in a deranged vogue esque dance move intensively engrossing the audience. 

A definite highlight was witnessing Geordie Walker's unmistakeable guitar sound - the master of slowing guitar riffs to obtain a sound that could only have been found on a Nirvana album.

The night wouldn't have been complete without Jaz's rantings regarding social control, UFO's and crashing stock markets - we don't live in Iceland and don't have Niceland but whatever happens in 2012, Killing Joke seem to have a vision which in some aspects, are a lot more real that a lot of us are willing to accept.

Troubling music for troubling times....

Photo Kudos Marie GC