Category: Live Reports (Page 1 of 37)

GENEVA JACUZZI, RIKI + SPIKE Live in London

19 February 2025 /

The home of KITE, TR/ST, ADULT. and DRAB MAJESTY, US independent label Dais Records sent two of their acclaimed female synthpop acts Geneva Jacuzzi and Riki out on a UK and European tour.

Based in Los Angeles, Geneva Jacuzzi first brought her brand of avant-pop to the world with the bedroom recorded ‘Lamaze’ in 2010. Her second more polished long player ‘Technophelia’ followed in 2016 but while her third album ‘Triple Places’ didn’t appear until 2024, during the interregnum, she was working in performance art, live theatre, set design, costuming, makeup and set decoration.

Also from Los Angeles, Riki was the synth player of goth punk band CRIMSON SCARLET before taking the plunge to go solo in 2017 with the single ‘Hot City’ and releasing her self-titled debut in 2020. With a vibrant punchy style of synthpop incorporating Italo disco and new romantic influences, her most recent album ‘Gold’ came out in 2021.

But opening the evening as the local support was Spike, the synthcentric nom de théâtre of London-based singer-songwriter Hannah McLoughlin. With her macabre disco dealing with the undead and the inhuman, it was perhaps no big surprise that her set included a deadpan electronic cover of Warren Zevon’s ‘Werewolves Of London’. In an idiosyncratic live presentation including taped snippets of other’s songs inbetween her own, one of her tunes ‘Tiquetonne’ interpolated ‘Con Te Partiro’ aka ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ as made famous by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, and captured her enjoyable melancholic eccentricity.

Dressed mostly in black but contrasted with a white T-shirt and red gloves, Riki arrived on the stage like she had just been to a West Berlin night club circa 1984. Suitably Germanic songs such as ‘Strohmann’ and ‘Böse Lügen’ fitted in that image perfectly with big industrialised percussive sounds, while her most recent single ‘SAS (For Those Who Speak and Spake)’ exuded that Mittel Europa chic. The aural template of songs like ‘Lo’ and ‘Napoleon’ recalled American band BOOK OF LOVE who opened for DEPECHE MODE and were produced by Flood back in the day but to close, Riki went back to her punkier roots with a feisty energetic rendition of ‘Earth Song’.

Geneva Jacuzzi made a statement from the start that this was to be no mere gig as she appeared with a black and white cone over her face as part of a striking costume that also inventively featured flexible ducting hose for arms. Flanked by two male dancers in leotards vogueing and assisting when appropriate, it was like watching ‘The Masked Singer’ on hallucinogenics!

After venturing into audience and declaring ‘Art Is Dangerous’, the time came to “TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF!” but the show delightfully did not get any less weirder. Combining the mannerisms of Gina X, Lene Lovich and Jyl vocally and visually, this was an ironic celebration of the subversive potential and absurdity of all art.

As the DAF flavoured ‘Casket’ provided an appropriately horror film edge, the bouncy arty Italo of ‘Cannibal Babies’ saw Geneva Jacuzzi peak over a circular spiral screen but ‘Laps Of Luxury’ saw her make shadow movements behind it along as her dancers pulled shapes behind their own square and triangle variants.

During ‘One Colored Rooms’, she beckoned the crowd to create channel for her to parade with her dancers to the far end of the Moth Club while beach balls and balloons flew over people’s heads. If there were any health and safety concerns, no-one really cared as smiles and astonishment were on faces all around.

A song about being ghosted following a date, ‘Dry’ observed how the modern approach to love via technology can alter amount of value placed on proper human interactions. However, this brilliant actually tune provided an immediate connection to the audience with its memorable repeatable chorus.

‘Do I Sad?’ brought a YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA sparkle despite its title while dangling her ducting hose arms to the oozy ballad ‘Yo-Yo Boy’ to finish, the quirky spectacle summed up Geneva Jacuzzi and her surreal brand of entertainment. With a brilliant presentation of theatrics and performance art, this was a joyous experience that also happened to include catchy hook-laden synthpop.

Witnessed by lively diverse audience of all ages, ethnicities and sexualities, it was a fabulous evening showcasing three talented artists who proved once again that in modern synthpop, the feminine touch really is best.

With thanks to Frankie Davison at Stereo Sanctity

‘Triple Fire’ by Geneva Jacuzzi is released by Dais Records, available from https://genevajacuzzi.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.genevajacuzzi.com/

https://www.facebook.com/genevajacuzziofficial/

https://www.instagram.com/genevaxjacuzzi/

Riki’s ‘Gold’ is released by Dais Records, available from https://riki.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.facebook.com/riki.la.band

https://www.instagram.com/riki.band/

The ‘S/T’ EP by Spike is released by God Nation on 25 February 2025, pre-order from https://gobnation.bandcamp.com/album/s-t-4

https://www.instagram.com/__s.p.i.k.e.__/

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
19 February 2025

CAMOUFLAGE Live at Oberhausen Turbinenhalle

31 October 2024 /

After a postponement of a year, CAMOUFLAGE finally took their ‘Rewind To The Future & Goodbye’ tour on the German road.

This was a show to look back on four decades of CAMOUFLAGE – “Let’s remember 1983, the year we were founded” the band said on their socials, “KRAFTWERK, John Foxx, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, DEPECHE MODE and DAF! The electronic music of many new bands at the time electrified us and we thought: why not just try it ourselves? …”

Forming in 1983 as LICENSED TECHNOLOGY in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Marcus Meyn, Heiko Maile and Oli Kreyssig began creating tapes using a Moog Source, Korg MS20, Roland Juno 60, Roland JX3P, Roland TR808 and Simmons drums. The trio eventually settled on the name CAMOUFLAGE after the 1981 YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA track from the album ‘BGM’.

Still learning their craft as songwriters, when their demo ‘Fade In Memory’ was aired on the local radio show ‘Sounds From The Synthesizer’ in 1986, interest came from Westside Music who saw potential in the trio in much the same way as Beggars Banquet did with Gary Numan; The independent label were able to broker a deal with the European multi-national Metronome, leading to the release of the mighty debut single ‘The Great Commandment’ which became a No14 hit in West Germany and later a Billboard dance club No1 in the US.

While the ‘Rewind To The Future & Goodbye’ title may have indicted a farewell tour, this was anything but for CAMOUFLAGE as this was a reference to the show opener, a brand new autobiographical new song which captured all their best elements. Performed by Meyn and Maile alone, this was their statement of intent to continue despite their self-confessed ups and downs.

Joined on stage by Jochen Schmalbach (drums + electronic percussion) and Volker Hinkel (guitars + keyboards), CAMOUFLAGE ventured back to their ‘Voices & Images’ era and that 1998 album’s wistful opening song ‘That Smiling Face’. But then came a surprise with a rendition of their breakthrough unreleased demo ‘Fade in Memory’; a joyous slice of synthpop in the vein of ‘Speak & Spell’, this was a welcome and fun inclusion to the set. In comparison, it’s hard to imagine today’s incarnation of DEPECHE MODE performing ‘Television Set’!

One person was missing was CAMOUFLAGE co-founder Oli Kreyssig who opted not to tour for personal reasons. However, he appeared on screen and on the backing track for his lead vocal on ‘You Turn’ which formed part of the ‘Sensor’ era of the show. Having left the band in 1989 after the ‘Methods Of Silence’ tour, this album saw Kreyssig’s return which has since included a further two long players in ‘Relocated’ and ‘Greyscale’. The reunion began with the comeback single ‘Thief’ in 1999 which introduced the suite, but it was the Gary Numan meets Depeche magnificence of ‘Me & You’ and the moody groove of ‘Perfect’ which stole this particular section of the show.

With Meyn enthusiastically waving his arms aloft and Maile studiously looking at his synths, the wonderful ‘Suspicious Love’ represented the “Think Electronic” album ‘Bodega Bohemia’ from 1993 while there was an airing for another new song ‘Everything’. The oompa energy of ‘We Are Lovers’ from ‘Relocated’ was rather appropriately segued into a faithful cover of ‘Blue Monday’ before venturing into the ‘Greyscale’ era with ‘I’ll Follow Behind’, ‘Leave Your Room Behind’ and the catchy ‘Shine’. But it was ‘The Great Commandment’ that the enthused audience were waiting for and today still stands up as perfection in its development of the ‘Some Great Reward’ industrial electronic pop sound that DEPECHE MODE all but abandoned by ‘Black Celebration’.

For the first encore, CAMOUFLAGE revisited their AREU AREU side project of 1992 with a fairly identikit version of THE CURE’s ‘Cold’ from ‘Pornography’. However, the morose gloom was immediately offset with the joyous peace anthem ‘Strangers’ Thoughts’ with all present joining the male voice choir refrain. Continuing the theme, the anti-war song ‘Neighbours’ completed the ‘Voices & Images’ era with thoughts to those affected by the world’s current conflicts.

The final encore saw a token visit into 1991’s Colin Thruston produced ‘Meanwhile’ album with one of its more electronic based songs ‘Handsome’; an experiment in a more band-orientated sound with guitars, drums, violin and sax, the record confused fans and ultimately saw CAMOUFLAGE “think electronic” again to settle into becoming the respected veterans they are now. That said, tonight Volker Hinkel made six string contributions where appropriate, adding texture to the darker tracks, while sticksman Jochen Schmalbach is a far better and more respectful drummer when augmenting sequenced songs than Christian Eigner will ever be for DEPECHE MODE.

This fine evening concluded with ‘Love Is A Shield’, another international hit which affirmed back in 1989 that CAMOUFLAGE were more than one hit wonders and had a chance at longevity. As it happened, there really were ups and downs after but here were Meyn and Maile at the front of the stage singing the final chorus with acoustic accompaniment from Hinkel together with the assembled Oberhausen crowd.

This was an assured performance and Marcus Meyn would later remark that this was the first show of the tour which was free of technical hitches. It saw the band much more relaxed than they had been in Hamburg the night before, with the singer’s vocals more confident. With eight albums to their name, the indicators were that while CAMOUFLAGE’s past was being celebrated, there is more to come.

CAMOUFLAGE will next be touring Eastern Europe and on 19 July 2025 play Cologne’s prestigious Amphi Festival. But until then, there will be a new fan curated compilation also called ‘Rewind To The Future & Goodbye’ containing 40 songs from 40 years of the band’s history. While 2014’s ‘The Singles’ containing liner notes by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is a good bite size entry point into CAMOUFLAGE for the more cautious listener, those who wish to dive head first into a collection of glorious singles, album standouts and B-side experiments know what to ask for this Christmas 😉

‘Rewind To The Future & Goodbye’ is released on 13 December 2024 as a 3CD or 4LP set on by Universal Music, pre-order from https://camouflage.bravado.de/

CAMOUFLAGE 2024 – 2025 Eastern European live dates include:

Tallinn Alexela Kontserdimaja (22 November), Riga Palladium (23 November), Vilnius Compensa Concert Hall (24 November), Warsaw Palladium (26 March), Ostrava Barrák Music Club (28 March), Bratislava Rafinery Gallery (29 March), Prague Roxy (30 March)

http://www.camouflage-music.com/

https://www.facebook.com/camouflagemusic

https://x.com/camouflagemusic

https://www.instagram.com/camouflagemusic/

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
31 October 2024

MOBY Live at London O2 Arena

21 September 2024 /

Photo by Zoran Veselinovic

Celebrating 25 years of his multi-million selling album ‘Play’, Moby delivered a mighty greatest hits set in front of a packed house at London’s O2 Arena.

The vegan musician who has also been a proud environmental and animal rights activist had not toured for over 10 years when Barack Obama was still President of the United States. The world has changed considerably since then and not for the better. So it was timely, having kept a lower profile in recent years, that Moby should return to performing in Europe and give 100% of the tour’s profits to local animal rights organisations while also expressing his reasoned viewpoints.

At the time of the release of ‘Play’ on Mute Records in 1999, Moby was at a career crossroads following the commercial failure of the guitar driven statement ‘Animal Rights’. Believing it was going to be his last ever album, the man born Richard Melville Hall had nothing to lose and began experimenting with vocals sampled from songs by the blues and gospel singers Bessie Jones, Boy Blue and Vera Hall taken from the 1993 box set ‘Sounds of the South’ of field recordings collected by ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. The contrast between these spiritual vocalisations and Moby’s electronica backdrops provided an unexpected emotional centre which resonated with the wider public. With all 18 tracks made available for commercial licensing, ‘Play’ notched up 12 million worldwide sales.

Photo by Zoran Veselinovic

Despite the focus on ‘Play’, the evening began formally with the uplifting gospel rave of ‘In My Heart’. Eschewing the use of the album’s samples, the live vocals from the deep voiced Choklate and the silky soulstress Nadia Christine Duggin recreated the various phrases or were expressed in glossolalia where studio editing had created a unique language.

With an accomplished backing band of keyboards, bass and drums, as well as cello and violin in a nod to his recent orchestrated reworkings albums ‘Reprise’ and ‘Resound NYC’, Moby was happy to let his vocalists take centre stage. Although the man himself was mostly on guitar, he ventured occasionally to synths and congas, as on his breakthrough techno banger ‘Go’. With its dreamlike quality recreating the ‘Laura Palmer’s Theme’ sample from ‘Twin Peaks’ on strings and synths alternating with the old skool rave action, it was mighty but had proceedings peaked too soon?

Photo by Zoran Veselinovic

Luckily they hadn’t, as ‘Bodyrock’ and ‘Find My Baby’ maintained the show’s early momentum. Things were taken down nicely with the surprise inclusions of the inspirational ‘Almost Home’ from 2013’s ‘Innocents’ and the mournful ballad ‘When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die’ off 1995’s ‘Everything Is Wrong’, both beautifully sung by Nadia Christine Duggin. Meanwhile, ‘In This World’ was a reminder that although ‘18’ was considered a less consistent version of ‘Play’ on its release in 2002, this song was equal any of the best tracks from it.

With Nadia Christine Duggin and Choklate having done the vocal heavy lifting so far, Moby took to the mic for ‘Porcelain’ (which perhaps surprisingly he said was nearly left off ‘Play’), an uptempo revamp of ‘We Are All Made of Stars’ and the sinister machine throb of ‘Machete’. Like a modern day Nina Simone with a touch of sartorial flamboyance, support artist Lady Blackbird offered superb renditions of ‘Walk With Me’ which she had resounded with Moby in 2023 and an outstandingly emotive ‘Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?’.

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

There was the unexpected but welcome addition of the elegiac instrumental ‘Everloving’ from ‘Play’; having been used in many animal rights campaigns, before the rendition, Moby announced that the charities that profits from the UK leg of the tour would go to The Humane League UK, Plant-Based Universities, The Animal Law Foundation, Earth Percent (Brian Eno’s climate organization) and The Jane Goodall Institute.

Effectively now seen as the signature theme to the ‘Bourne’ series of films, Moby’s tale of regret ‘Extreme Ways’ provided another rousing highlight while concluding the main act, ‘Honey’ provided fitting bounce. Returning to the stage for the first encore donned in a white stetson, Moby and his talented ensemble indulged in a fun acoustic cover of ‘Ring of Fire’ as made famous by Johnny Cash, prompting audience singalongs both for the chorus and the trumpet solo.

Despite giving encouragement to Americans to vote for Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump and save democracy, ‘Lift Me Up’ unfortunately stalled in its new stadium rock incarnation but victory was snatched back with a glorious ‘Natural Blues’ voiced by Choklate.

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

Deciding not to indulge in the pretence of walking off for the second and final encore, the 2 hour show climaxed with the “sound system rocking” to the happy hardcore of ‘Feeling So Real’ and the avant techno frenzy of ‘Thousand’ which saw Moby stood on a podium to absorb the exhilaration of the sped up drum machine and the cheers of the crowd.

This was a triumphant return for Moby, if it can be called that. He continues to make music and is a leading exponent of modern ambient while he released a brand new album ‘Always Centered At Night’ earlier this year featuring guest vocal collaborators including the late Benjamin Zephaniah, Gaidaa, Akemi Fox, Choklate and Lady Blackbird; although the latter was not performed, it is a worthy addition to a tradition. But tonight was not about Moby promoting his new works but using his most recognised music and his platform to help further the causes close to his heart.

Special thanks to Sarah Pearson and Alix Wenmouth at Wasted Youth PR

‘Always Centered At Night’ is self-released and available as a vinyl LP or CD and via the usual platforms

http://www.moby.com/

https://www.facebook.com/mobymusic

https://www.instagram.com/moby/

https://open.spotify.com/album/6Q9F246p5fOQzz8tts4ylS

Text by Chi Ming Lai
21 September 2024

BLANCMANGE + THE REMAINDER Live at Islington Assembly Hall

4 June 2024 /

BLANCMANGE were originally a duo comprising of Arthur and Stephen Luscombe with a brace of hit singles and three albums before disbanding in 1986. On their 2011 return, Luscombe sadly had to withdraw for health reasons so since then, Arthur has carried the BLANCMANGE torch.

‘Everything Is Connected’ and celebrating four decades of BLANCMANGE, Neil Arthur had a novel idea for this Very Best Of tour… he would support himself!

Augmented for both sets by percussionist Liam Hutton and synthesist Finlay Shakespeare, THE REMAINDER featuring Neil Arthur opened to a packed Islington Assembly Hall. All clothed in turquoise T-shirts emblazoned with a “Re” logo, how THE REMAINDER differ from BLANCMANGE is that the music is a three way collaboration between Arthur, Hutton and Shakespeare.

After the LCD SOUNDSYSTEM resonances and talk of “calcium build-up” of ‘Broken Manhole Cover’, ‘Hoarfrost’ entered more spacey midtempo territory and saw Arthur ironically quip “I don’t do nostalgia”. The ‘Evensong’ title song of their album released last year threw in some hypnotic motorik while to close an engaging set, ‘Dead Farmer’s Field’ offered angst in the vein of THE CURE; “the lot after us are a right rabble” amusingly announced Arthur beforehand, “their singer’s a diva!”

With the same trio on stage but wearing different hats, BLANCMANGE began their set with the proto-synth punk of ‘Again, I Wait for the World’; a song which was written in 1979 by Arthur’s art-school band L360, despite the 45 years since, it more than fitted in with the aural aesthetics of 21st Century BLANCMANGE.

With ‘Reduced Voltage’ representing BLANCMANGE in the present day via its groovy CAN precision, the first oldie of the evening came with ‘I’ve Seen The Word’, swiftly followed by ‘Feel Me’ where Arthur gave the enthused audience an invitation to dance to the tense TALKING HEADS meets JOY DIVISION amalgam.

What was most impressive was the sound in the venue and how well suited it was to rhythmic electronic music while adding an impressive new dimension with his waveshaping synth trickery was Finlay Shakespeare on his Nord Modular G2X based set-up. Meanwhile, Liam Hutton recreated the familiarity of the machine derived percussive mantras but gave proceedings a tidy looseness.

There was the welcome return of the first BLANCMANGE single ‘God’s Kitchen’ while ‘The Western’ and ‘Drive Me’ were recalled to represent the 2011 comeback long player ‘Blanc Burn’ and the beginning of this now highly prolific second phase. Also welcome was ‘Distant Storm’, possibly the best BLANCMANGE song of this era which despite being dream-like in its trance disposition revealed its spiritual kinship with ‘Feel Me’.

A “Heroes”-like stomp came on ‘Some Times These’ before the main set ended with BLANCMANGE’s two classic bangers ‘Living On The Ceiling’ and ‘Blind Vision’, the former’s exotic sitar hook now replaced by a massed football terrace chant. After some gentle persuasion, the encore presented a minimal cover of ABBA’s ‘The Day Before You Came’ using pizzicato-emulating patches before concluding with the final of BLANCMANGE’s three Top10 hits ‘Don’t Tell Me’

At the end, a humble Neil Arthur expressed his gratitude and namechecked his circle but saved his biggest thanks for the audience. As he surmised, the initial success and continued longevity of BLANCMANGE could not have happened without them.

In fine voice throughout while occasionally stoic in demeanour, this double dose of Neil Arthur including BLANCMANGE evergreens, new material and a recent side project was a fine evening’s entertainment that was appreciated by all.

Special thanks to Steve Malins at Random Management

‘Everything Is Connected’ is released by London Records as a 38 track double CD, 38 track download + 10 track coke bottle green vinyl LP

http://www.blancmange.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/BlancmangeMusic

https://twitter.com/_blancmange_

https://www.instagram.com/neilarthur/

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
4 June 2024

KNIGHT$ + STEVEN JONES & LOGAN SKY Live at The Fiddler’s Elbow

26 May 2024 /

Fresh from dazzling thousands of dancing Goths at Wave-Gotik-Treffen, KNIGHT$ brought their Hi-NRG act to London for an intimate show. Celebrating five years since the release of the debut KNIGHT$ album, ‘Dollars & Cents’, the crowd were treated to a play-through with bonus cover songs.

Hi-NRG and its Italo Disco relatives have fallen out of fashion since their peaks in the 1980s, which is a pity. PET SHOP BOYS, TRANS-X, Divine, Lime and Sabrina created evergreen party tracks around the 136 BPM sweet spot, but the style loved by aerobics instructors and visitors to Fire Island eventually made way for trance and techno. That’s progress, but the joy of octave basslines, synthesised hooks, and glorious pop vocals transcends the trend time-line.

The evening began with a rare live set from Steven Jones and Logan Sky. The duo were brought together through the intercession of Steve Strange, and their cinematic pop is inspired by his legacy. Their opening song, ‘Polaroids,’ is a direct reference to the Visage front-man’s way of looking at the world. Things quickly moved darker with the danceable ‘Black B-Sides,’ which called to mind early PSYCHE.

‘Rotating Angels’ and ‘Lovers & Losers’ reinforced the compelling darkwave touches they are capable of. ‘Come Back Tonight’ demonstrated why good songs matter more than cult followings of granny-aged groupies. Despite their lack of live practice, Jones and Sky are bounds ahead of many of the acts who insert themselves into tour programmes or fill out festival line-ups. They even write the songs they perform.

James Knights’ ability to bring out the soul in his voice certainly adds to the appeal of a KNIGHT$ show. Throughout the night, there were moments of raw power that required checks to ensure that Martha Walsh or Evelyn Thomas hadn’t taken his place. Working the crowd into a tizzy with songs like ‘What’s Your Poison?’ and ‘Alligator,’ his affection for the genre was impressed into the show.

The inclusion of the PET SHOP BOYS’ ‘Heart’ and YAZOO’s ‘Goodbye 70s’ gave an appreciative nod to the giants of dance music from the days before “EDM” was something sold by Live Nation to frat boys.

KNIGHT$ ‘Dollars & Cents’ is available as a pistachio coloured vinyl LP, CD + download from https://knights101.bandcamp.com/album/dollars-cents-album

KNIGHT$ opens for CHINA CRISIS on the following 2024 live dates:

Isle of Wight Strings Bar (31 May), Bristol Thekla (26 September), Lancaster Grand Theatre (1 November), Bury The Met (2 November), Birmingham Hare & Hounds (14 November), Oxford 02 Academy (29 November), Cork Sea Church (6 December), Dublin Opium (8 December)

http://knights101.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Knights101/

https://twitter.com/JPSKNIGHTS

https://www.instagram.com/knights101/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/07xFYhAkgObJY8VBkIy1O4

Steven Jones & Logan Sky ’Come Back Tonight – The Remixes’ is available at https://www.beatport.com/release/come-back-tonight-the-remixes/4466309 while their back catalogue including the albums ‘Sacred Figures’ and ‘European Lovers’ is available from https://etrangersmusique.bandcamp.com/

https://www.etrangersmusique.com

https://www.facebook.com/etrangersmusique/

https://www.instagram.com/stevenjonesmusic/

http://www.logansky.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/LoganSky

https://www.instagram.com/logan.sky/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2q5h7vR5Z3JbI1zyeedcRP

This article was originally published on Cold War Night Life at https://www.coldwarnightlife.com/2024/05/25/its-a-rich-mans-world-knight-live-in-london/

Text by Simon Helm
Photos by Chi Ming Lai
26 May 2024

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