Killing Joke at the Astoria

"You'll soon know the power of the dark side!"

Usually when I go to one of these gigs I have at least some expectation of what I'm going to see. Well having not ever seen a Killing Joke live vid and having only heard one live bootleg from 1980, I've got no idea what to expect tonight. Of course this is the point in the review where I'm supposed to introduce the band to the only partially acquainted, by mentioning the most commonly known fact about them.

In Killing Joke's case it was that in 1982 they thought the world was going to end, so they upped sticks and moved to Iceland to escape the holocaust. I was always a bit confused about their reasoning for hiding out there until I saw an interview with Christian Death's Valor, who explained his similar plans to make a move to the Arctic when the apocalypse comes a knocking. The reason - Cold climates contain uncontaminated ice that can be defrosted to create safe drinking water. So if when you hear the 2 minute warning you know what to do - head to the freezer section of your local Sainsburys.

Anyway, back to the job in hand. So it's Killing Joke's latest tour to promote their new self-titled LP. The LP's picking up good reviews although it's not quite got the same amount of accessibility that 'Pandemonium' had going for it. Maybe that's a good thing, I guess it all depends on your point of view. Sadly we miss support Queen Adreena, which is a bit of a shame, but I guess we'll blame that on the football.

Inside the Astoria, strange echoes enrapture the auditorium as the members of Killing Joke assemble on the stage. Paul Raven looks like a SWAT commando with his camouflage painted face and woolly hat, whilst Geordie is growing old with a grace that you wouldn't expect for such a noted guitar player. Looks like we have a session player on drums tonight, as there's no sign of David Grohl. They are soon followed by a shadowy figure who turns himself to reveal - Emperor Palpatine from Return of the Jedi (Alright Star Wars purists, I meant Darth Sidious)! No, it's really Jaz Coleman dressed in monk's robes his face smothered in black and white paint!

No long afterwards and we're straight into 'Communion' from 'Pandemonium'. What's good here is just how much is being played live, with all the exotic Egyptian orchestration of the studio version substituted by a lone violin. Yes, it's the fiddle at the end of the apocalypse! I've seen some intense front men before, but Jaz Coleman is something else. Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, this man is completely demented! Each word is played out in his motions as he works himself into a complete shamanic trance during his performance. After five minutes of Jaz contorting himself into his trance like state it does become slightly funny. It's only when he's still doing exactly the same thing ten minutes later that it becomes really scary! That you can barely see his face under his lank hair and the way it' s painted white gives the effect of a wide-eyed skull prancing about the stage. Creepy stuff! Slightly ironic that the toy town Satanism of Marilyn Manson gets the moral majority in such a lava, when nobody in the media bats an eyelid at the real deal from Jaz Coleman (who's probably older than most members of the moral majority!).

I was glad that I caught a review of the set list for KJ's Underworld show a few weeks back as I went to tonight's gig not expecting any hits, so it was a big surprise to next hear the intermittent electro intro to 'Requiem', holding back on none of the brutality that it's displayed since 1980. Not long after, along comes 'Wardance'. "George Dubiya's got every chance of being re-elected" warns Jaz beforehand "He's got me as his campaign manager!" Jaz is pretty hot on the onstage quips tonight; Of England, the New Zealand based Coleman says " I hate this fucking country, gets more like America each time I come here."

A flurry of new albums tracks follows, most fairing far better live than their somewhat minimal studio incarnations. The new KJ album material really come into it's own tonight. I guess it's one of those records designed for playing live. As Geordie's waves of feedback continue, Jaz just seems content to be building up his berserker fury. Overall the KJ live sound is pretty unusual. Not as loud as you might expect, but mechanical without sounding overtly artificial. The closest comparison would be New Model Army, in that most of the band's strength comes from their energy rather than sheer volume.

As the commercial side of the Joke is on the backburner tonight, there's no sign of 'Love Like Blood' or 'Eighties' from their 'Night Time' pop' period. Having said that 'King and Queens' does turn up, although recent single 'Loose Cannon' is surprisingly absent.

First set out of the way we can only keep our fingers crossed that this being the Astoria on a Saturday that we'll get an encore. Coleman's troops oblige with a version of 'Pandemonium' that is so long, it must be giving the organisers at the Astoria a good reason to sweat. We would have wanted more but tonight gave us everything we needed. No matter the form it takes, Killing Joke's apocalypse is always welcome one.

According to Jaz, it' s the end of the end of the world as we know it, but like Michael Stipe, at least after tonight I feel fine!