aaamusic | On 20, Mar 2012

Oxford, 17th March

with The Icarus Line

‘The Icarus Line’ have always been a band that I have really liked since I had heard the song ‘Feed a cat to your Cobra’ which was so chaotic and mad that it grabbed my attention straight away. But since ‘Aaron North’ has left the band to join ‘Nine inch Nails’ the band have kind of  struggled with  their direction. They call it going for something completely different on  every album, I call it losing their way. It’s such a shame for this to happen  to one of the best live bands I have ever seen, but the thing is they have lost their way but every new way is great and this incarnation that played  tonight is were singer and recluse ‘Joe Cardamone’ has decided to become  ‘Iggy Pop’ looking like he is ‘Iggy’ in the ‘Idiot’ album era he delights you  to a set of mostly new songs nothing off the first couple of ‘Icarus Line’  albums of Stooges Esq punk. He moves round the stage like a model trying  to do ‘Iggy Pop’ but it really works, he looks amazing and the songs are  actually really good, If they were a ‘Stooges’ tribute band they would be the  best ever tribute band I have ever seen and all the material is their own songs and it is really good but the lack of songs ‘Raw Power’ and ‘Lust for Life’  are just a big low point in the set. I really enjoy this thou and buy every  piece of merchandise I can get so they must be doing something right. Well  ‘Iggy Pop’ is a good person to mimic so if your going to do it why not him but I miss the old ‘Icarus Line’ and would like to see them putting more of  themselves into the show rather than what I saw tonight but it was really  awesome what they did produce.

‘Killing Joke’ Start on a high not with electronic dance number ‘European  Superstate’ which is easily the best song in tonights performance. I have no  idea how this band got so popular cause they continue the rest of the set  with a mono tone drone industrial sound. This sound seems to be in every  song and doesn’t make me jump for joy. Singer ‘Jaz Coleman’ has real stage  presence acting like a weird voodoo man that has escaped from prison and  I really enjoy watching his antics during the show.  It makes you able  to stand sitting through the songs. I think they needed to turn up ‘Jazs’  vocals in the set because they are too low the whole way through and a lot  of the keyboards seem to be in the mix the same way. They have ‘Inertia’  frontman ‘Reza Udhin’ on the keys and it would be nice to hear what he is  doing which is only presence at the beginning of the set. It looks like  he is upto some wicked stuff on the keyboards but it turned so low down  that you can’t hear it. The venue is really packed tonight and everyone  seems to be loving it. A lot of these fans have been following the band  since the beginning of their long career and you can see many a ‘Killing Joke’ jackets in the crowd. They might be legends it just doesn’t impress  me much. Especially when they cut the set short by three songs due to the curfew missing out mega hit ‘Love like Blood’ but that has kind of been the theme of the evening all chills and no thrills.

Killing Joke – Setlist

———————–

European Superstate

Sun goes Down

Rapture

Fema Camp

Bloodsport

Pole Shift

Chop, Chop

Change

Depth Charge

Asteroid

Great Call

—————–

Corporate Elect

The Wait

Psyche

Wardance

 

 

Daniel Cairns