Hanzel und Gretyl, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Ministry
9:30 Club, October 25
We arrived shortly before HuG took the stage. I'm glad we made it in time, since it started early. And that we bought parking tickets in advance. HuG were really enjoyable. I expected them to be a bit goofier but they were in fine form. I have no idea how Vas has a voice left after any show. They only performed songs from Uber Alles and Scheissmessiah, alas, which means they were pretty much metal all night long. Well, at least I finally witnessed a them in action and picked up the new CD (definitely more metal than I like) and a t-shirt.
I had read that TKK were only so-so on this tour, but it wasn't true. They were very good. Of course, I may be biased, as I have been a fan of TKK since 1990 when I saw this cd called Kooler than Jesus and just had to have it (I mean, how could I resist a song called Devil Bunnies?). I even managed to remain a fan through their personnel and style changes and label problems (I would like to state for the record that I also like the Electric Hellfire Club but given the two, I'd take TKK's cheesy half-clad women and sexploitation references over the in-your-face Satanism of EHC any day). So the performance was fun. They did not disappoint me and the dance beats made for a very nice set and a refreshing middle performance since the other two are very metal-y. I would have liked them to have another Cherry Bomb Girl singing with them and maybe perform mid-career songs but the visuals were great and since they played more old stuff than new (I think), it was wonderful. Cuz it's Hot, A Daisy Chain for Satan, and After the Flesh were some of the songs. Can't find a setlist online.
Finally, Ministry. Ministry, whose first album I still guiltily like, whose song, The Nature of Love, batgirl and I used as part of an intro to our first radio show and whose second album, Twitch, knocked my socks off when batgrl let me listen to it after we returned to college for our sophomore year (it had just been released that year).
Yes, Ministry, who went way too metal for my tastes by the early 1990s. I hadn't really listened to any Ministry since Psalm 69 until the latest. Well, Ministry was musically very good. Visually interesting. However, I just am not that big a fan of their metal sound and in the scope of all three bands, I really love MLWTTKK best with HuG coming second and Ministry third.
But sweetie liked Ministry a lot, so there ya go.
Sondre Lerche w/ The Golden Republic
Iota, October 26
On the way to the show, I told sweetie that I felt like we were going to see our son perform. I love Sondre for his soaring melancholy love songs, young and innocent appearance, sweet melodies, and now, for his adorable stage chattiness. However, he's just a baby! He's so young he could be my son. It doesn't make him any less of a performer, and he was amazing last night. Absolutely amazing. That boy is so freakin' cute and a wonderful lyricist - not bad, considering Norwegian is his native language. I can't say anything bad about Sondre and even the crowd (and it was crowded!!) was interesting. Very multiethnic leaning heavily towards the young female (many Asian American women!) but nicely mixed. Something about Sondre must appeal to a wider audience than the usual singer-songwriters, I guess.
TGR opened for Sondre and then played about 4 or 5 songs as his band at the end of his performance. They were good but after awhile it was all the same. They have promise, though.
Standing there in the crush and the heat (until they turned the blessedly cool air on!), I had a funny thought, though. I wondered if anyone at the Sondre show was at the Ministry show the night before? Sweetie guesses maybe two other folks besides us but I don't know. The musical styles are vastly different. But that would mean that others have eclectic musical tastes! Gasp!
OK, two political links, somewhat non-partisan.
And my Native Nations Procession/First Nations Festival photos. Use the slideshow feature, it's kewl.
( 07:00 EH | aural pleasures. )I would have liked Ministry...because I'm fucking metal. }:-D
You would have! I do like Ministry and musically they were spot on but I think they tend to sound too much the same now. Some songs stand out but most just blend together for me.
Posted by: bunny at 28.10.04 18:44They do have that "wall of sound" thing going - definitely.
Posted by: JeanNINE at 02.11.04 16:23