Concert Review: Killing Joke at The Mohawk, Austin: Post-punk vets rock the state capital for first appearance in over 25 years.
★★★★★
Sometimes a show comes along right when you need it. Without getting into too many personal details, I’ve had a shitty past few days. Nothing life-threatening or insurmountable, mind you, but frustrating as hell.
Something kept up my spirits, however: Killing Joke were coming to Austin for their 40th anniversary Laugh At Your Peril tour, and unlike two earlier cancelled gigs, this was actually happening.
The buzz was palpable at The Mohawk, with plenty of diehard fans who, like myself, had long been awaiting this occasion. And after a solid set of industrial metal by Pig, the group hit the stage, breaking into the goth grandeur of Love Like Blood, with frontman Jaz Coleman clad in his trademark black jumpsuit, his theatrical facial expressions setting the mood immediately.
The band then went into dance-mode with the synth-fueled European Super State before plunging into the rollicking aural assault of Autonomous Zone, a track off 2015’s Pylon that proves they’re the rarest of rock bands–refusing to mellow or compromise with age. Indeed that track, along with (another Pylon cut) New Cold War, were as warmly received as time-tested classics.
Guitarist Geordie Walker’s inimitable guitar style was in full display, his choppy, chiming riffs cutting through the humid air on their New Wave hit Eighties and the proto-thrash headbanger The Wait.
Coleman, despite his ominous stare and possessed howl, offered warm and friendly banter in-between songs, at one point telling the audience to put down their iPhones and say hi to the person next to them. He was clearly invigorated by the audience response: after the group concluded the concussive Bloodsport, he added, “If you enjoy what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
He stated that the oppressively hot temperature “is my kind of climate”, and uncomfortable as it was, it complimented the Killing Joke dynamic-a sound that is as relentless and trance-inducing as a ritual, a communal experience which emanates from band to audience. A sonic sweat lodge to detox while rocking out.
This was evident in Paul Ferguson’s tribal drum solo mid set, which brought things to a fever pitch, or the group’s apocalyptic anthem Asteroid, prefaced by Coleman saying that humanity was nearing extinction before letting out his undead croak amidst jack hammer beats and caustic guitar.
Bassist Youth laid down his classic bass line on the disco beat driven Follow The Leader, while the band went full frontal fury on the searing The Death and Resurrection Show, before closing out with fan-favorite Wardance and the Middle-Eastern tinged Pandemonium (off the 1995 album of the same name).
It was a bucket list gig that gave me a much-needed shot in the arm. Killing Joke are a paradox. They make songs about the end of the world that make you feel vibrantly alive. That’s why I, and every other sweaty concertgoer emerged exhausted and renewed. More than worth The Wait, indeed.
Setlist:
Love Like Blood
European Super State
Autonomous Zone
Eighties
New Cold War
Requiem
Bloodsport
Butcher
Loose Cannon
Labyrinth
Corporate Elect
Asteroid
The Wait
Pssyche
Encore:
Follow the Leaders
Primitive
The Death and Resurrection Show
Wardance
Pandemonium
Buy ‘Pylon’ on Amazon: