There are legendary groups that are icon and inspiration for many of the most famous bands on the planet, but they remain a little longer in the shadows and in the field of worship compared to the commercial boom of the groups they influenced. Killing Joke It is undoubtedly a clear example of this type of phenomenon, since with a 40-year career they can boast that their music has been the basis for projects like Ministry or Nine Inch Nails sound like what they sound like. For this reason and taking into account that it was his first time in our country, the appointment in The Plaza Condesa it acquired a character of unmissable and very probably unrepeatable.
Lord Fer, vampiric and famous scene character under national, I would be in charge of mixing post and after-punk melodies before starting the stellar act, and get to taste a good beer to the rhythm of Postmortem ejaculation and other similar bands that his turntable full of candles gives us. About twenty minutes after the taciturn performance DJ, little by little the musicians of Killing Joke they take their place on stage.
But it is not until the figure of Jaz Coleman It is present on the stage that the excited shouts of the track acquire deafening character. The setlist opens with “Love Like Blood” and it must be said: Everything The Plaza cell phones are up trying to get the best photo or the clearest video of this beginning of the show, where in addition and contrary to custom we had the presentation of each of the members of the band which is usually done at the end. A blanket with the legend “Moshpit Zone” He gets up in the middle of the dance floor, and there lovers of extreme dances congregate who, after the hypnotic beginning, give each other an adrenaline rush with the power of “European Super State” and “Autonomous Zone”, y que de hecho no para con el viaje en el tiempo de “Eighties” y su sonido punk crudo.
It is worth stopping to describe the demon of frontman that we have before our eyes. And is that Jaz Coleman is a character who only needs a deep black makeup around the eyes style Alice Cooper to catch your sight with its theatrical gestures added to irreverent and surprising movements. Her black coat (and it must be admitted, prominent abdomen) go from one side to the other with the rhythm of “New Cold War” and “Requiem”; and then surprise us with “In Cythera”, a song that has not been played live since March 2012 and that in fact is a rarity in its sets. It is an honor to hear it! “Bloodsport”, “Butcher” y el poderoso tema “Loose Cannon” are the melodies that keep the murderous laugh echoing in every corner of the forum, in which it is a musical moment more focused on darkwave and the darkest and most experimental rhythms of Killing Joke.
“¿A quien le gusta el alcohol? ¿Y las drogas? Sabemos son divertidas pero también sabemos pueden convertirse en un laberinto” question Jaz Coleman to the audience, before performing “Labyrinth”. And then arguing that everyone is a damn corporation, the heavy beats of the industrialist are present by activating the slam pistons on the track again with “Corporate Elect”; and people go crazy with that brutal download. And then one of the most powerful moments of the night occurs when the scream of “Asteroid” is present in The Plaza, and a wall of death entre los fans genera una colisión brutal en la pista con ese tema que – en palabras de Jaz – es como la erupción de un volcán. La noche sigue su curso y con “The Wait” and “Psychee” They do not stop jumping all the fans, the first part of the show is over with a very brief and almost imperceptible pause.
“Change” and "Primitive” marcan el regreso de Killing Joke to continue the setlist and the public continues to applaud and dance, and little by little the echo of the musical laughter is coming to an end. However, we still have time to move our legs with the catchy lowering and danceable rhythm of the warlike dance of “Wardance”; and to conclude the unforgettable event the British turn the place into a hotbed of emotions with “Pandemonium”, with which to applause and with arms up people say goodbye to the great legend. Sadly and seeing the setlist sheet we find that on paper they were ready to be touched as well “SO36” and above all ” The Death Resurection”, a subject that was highly anticipated and requested by people, but which never came. A pity that in the end they have not been executed.
An unforgettable and unprecedented night that tried to summarize more than 4 decades of experience in a single evening, and what has been the musical history of Killing Joke He had no qualms about taking us from one place to another in impetuous musical contrasts: From punk to synthpop and from there to industrial; to make stops in new wave or post punk and then back to gothic rock and darkwave. Without a doubt a concert that if you lived it you must presume you were there, and if you did not do it you should bump up for having let it pass.