KMFDM Pit Madness

We ended up in an excellent spot last night, right on an elevated part of the floor just to the left of the stage at the Attic. It was perfect for looking right at Steve (guitarist) over the couple of heads directly in front of us.

We were in a nice quiet spot too. So we could watch the show in relative peace, and it made for a great home base when I got the idea in my head to go into the pit. I'm assuming I got the idea anyway, either way, that's where I ended up. It was pretty low-key, as they go. Mostly people protecting their viewing positions while making it look like they're dancing around and moving, but they're really just trying to elbow you out of their way. Should have been called a jock pit. There were a few people getting into the music though, so it wasn't that bad. And no elbows in the face or anything, so I can't really complain.

They started off the show with 'Hau Ruck', the title track from their new album, and a total rocker in the same way 'Ultra' is. The band had a ton of energy, especially Steve. Lucia and Sasha were very much in their element on the stage together. You can tell touring is pretty much all they do.

They didn't play much that you could call 'low key'. Hard rock tune after hard rock tune going one right into the other. It was madness. A couple of tracks from Nihil were played, and a few tracks from the new album.

The show felt really short. According to my watch they played for about an hour and a half. Which normally is long enough for a typical show, but Pearl Jam have gone and spoiled me with their 3 hours sets.

After the show the band just hung around the floor talking to people. I had a bit of a conversation with Steve, I was sufficiently pathetic in my fanboy jibber-jabber. He was super energetic the entire show, I'm glad I was on his side of the stage.

Pants and KGB and Willie was at a KMFDM show in Moncton last year and ended up going with the band to Saint John for the next show after that. Pants even had to miss work but he went anyway. I'll take a picture of the note that Lucia wrote for him to explain why he missed work sometime, it's pretty funny.

Anyway, Lucia recognized Pants pretty early on, and came across us after the show and asked Pants if he needed another note. Hilarious. I was really impressed by how friendly they all were, despite my star-struck lack of cleverness.

KMFDM in my head were the big industrial band of the mid-90s so I still found it a bit counter-intuitive that they would actually be playing in a club in Halifax. They've been touring every other place though, going on tour every year except one for the last 20 or so. And then only stopping to record an album.

I always found their mix of industrial and metal to be the closest to my own concept of heavy music but with more to it than just guitars and bass. There was a lot to listen to and listen for in every KMFDM album and the music was pretty unpredictable. It translated into a great live show. The drummer was phenomenal, and having a drum kit (with double-kick bass for a couple of songs) just caused the songs to suddenly become flesh and blood compared with the recorded drum-machine-backed tracks that they played over the PA before and after the show.

After the show we hung out in the hotel room and chatted for a long-ass time. I finally fell asleep after pretending to sleep long enough that the people who were still up got the hint. (sorry guys, had to.)

The show was the most fun I've had at a show in ages, as far as getting to meet the band and really getting into the crowd and moving around.

I think this will be the capper on my recent rock concert binging.
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