Killing Joke at HMV Picture House with support from Noxshi reviewed

Ah, Edinburgh on a dark, cold Autumn night - what a perfect time and place for a Killing Joke gathering. More fitting than the original date of near spring April 15th which was cancelled due to "Complications".

The support this evening is Noxshi, a quintet from North London. In their own words (taken from their MySpace site):


Well, ok. They took to the stage in near darkness and proceeded to churn out their groove enhanced with a projector operator making pretty patterns with unknown liquids on a screen behind the guitarist for the duration. The music, hypnotic, yes, to a degree, a theramin was used to excess also, but what snared the senses the most was the incredibly bright back-light strobe which rendered Noxshi virtually unwatchable, plenty of punters agreed with me outside in the smoking area - they had all escaped the headache inducing light, like myself, in pursuit of respite and future respiratory problems. That aside, they appeared to go down reasonably well with the gathering.

And now to the main reason everyone was there - Killing Joke. A big roar went up as Geordie, Youth & Paul Ferguson all took their place as well as keyboard player Reza Udhin and the familiar intro to "Tomorrows World" from their eponymous debut album greeted the entrance of the manically staring Jaz Coleman. Second up, with a brief dedication to the late Paul Raven, was "Love Like Blood" which seemed to be played with a real feeling of a lost comrade. Before you could catch your breath they launched into "Wardance" which never fails to get the crowd moving, this time was no exception!

This is madness? Nah, this is bleedin' fantastic!

Next up were four tracks from the imminent new album "Absolute Dissent", firstly "In Excelsis" which was followed by the title track. Largely accepted & appreciated by the crowd the four new tracks were split by old favourite "Bloodsport" then onto "European Super State" and "This World Hell". Then the first of two cuts from the "What's This For?" album - "The Fall Of Because" where Jaz continued to move around centre stage in his distinctive staccato-stutter-strut. "Ghosts Of Ladbrooke Grove" from the new album was hot on the heels.  "Madness" followed with both Youth and Ferguson giving large on the mics along with the gravel and broken glass gargling Coleman. This is madness? Nah, this is bleedin' fantastic! "Madness" finishes in a cacophonous tumble of drum, bass and guitar while the following tracks throbbing intro starts to seep through. "Requiem" has a longer intro than usual while Geordie tunes up but Fergusons thunderous playing makes sure everyone is paying attention when the track kicks in! Some of the punters were obviously there for the older tracks and Coleman joined them in that thought with the next track "Eighties" from the 1985 "Night Time" album - "I'm living in the eighties" proclaimed Jaz in his deep growling voice but it wasn't a struggle.

Geordie, obviously the coolest person in the entire venue, started the intro to "The Wait"

 Two more new ones were next, "The Great Cull" with Jaz explaining that the worlds population is decreasing at an alarming rate apparently and "Fresh Fever From The Skies". Then came a little talk about the Earths magnetic field before "Asteriod" and then the last of the new tracks "Depthcharge". Youth kept spinning away from his mic and going walkabout with his Rickenbacker while Geordie, obviously the coolest person in the entire venue, started the intro to "The Wait" and then the "Wardance" singles B-side "Pssyche".

A few "thank you's" and "you've been great's" and the Joke is virtually over. They re-emerge for the encore and Coleman states "we haven't rehearsed this one" as "Primitive" begins. Once "Primitive" is over we're left with a guessing game. Hmmm, one more, which one will it be? Let me think. Ah yes, no surprises (but certainly welcome) as the Arabic refrain intro of "Pandemonium" begins then the track explodes into the epic enormous track that it is. "I CAN SEE TOMORROW" bellows Coleman, so can I mate, I'll have a splitting headache but I wouldn't have it any other way! Exit Coleman & Ferguson while Geordie & Youth bring the track, and show, to a squealing feedback flooded end. Awesome!

To the people who said to me "Huh, Killing Joke? They're past it man!" before I tootled off to the gig - they're not & the Jokes on you!