2001-12-07 - 10:43 a.m.

Brave New World (VNV Tour)

God Fucking Damnit! VNV Nation simply puts on the best live shows I've seen (and I go to quite a few).

So I went to the show with three co-workers (Redwood included), one of which had his first g/i club experience. Yay!

Icon of Coil started. Many of the people I was with were impressed by them. I was not. I danced, but only because Icon's lead singer is such a Rock Star �, and in that bad way. He wants people to make love to him. Nothing wrong with that, but he doesn't come across as somebody who cares about anything else.

During the VNV show, he ran up from behind the stage and dived into the crowd. Ronin Harris (VNV's lead singer) stopped mid-verse and scowled. I know that some people like Icon of Coil. I've seen them twice now, and frankly I've seen better EBM acts. Even smaller groups like Imperative Reaction and Stromkern blow Icon out of the water.

Ronin only paused for that one verse. He shrugged and then just continued where he should have been. Yes, he left out a bit (you have to when most of your music is pre-recorded).

DAT Machine: Canned Music

Most music snobs hate that most EBM acts (and more gothic groups than will admit) are really playing most of their music off a DAT machine. Each show is technically the same music, with vocals added on top. Mark of VNV adds live percussion.

But music snobs are missing why most everybody else goes to these shows (we aren't stupid � in fact, some of us actually know as much or more about the technical details of the canned shows we are listening to -- I'm thinking of Shells, who has a degree from Santa Cruz in Electronic Music). The point is the ensemble. Lights, Sounds, Vox, Visual F/X, and finally dancing in a packed crowd.

VNV has what is best described as socialist propaganda for visuals. Visit their web page. Good thing I'm honestly of the same mind as Ronin and Mark.

Three songs nearly brought me to tears:

1. Tempest :: I've always loved the song. It has Peter Gabriel like qualities. It is a song about determination and will from their Darkangel release.
2. Carbon :: New song about environmental destruction. More young kids need to be exposed to liberal environmental ideas. Maybe somebody will follow my footsteps. As I'd like nothing more than to have a legion of rivethead environmental engineers to save the Earth.
3. Further :: This song actually brings me to tears and touches me in a most personal way. I never told Spring this, but I first heard this song in early 2000 when I started spending lots of time with her. Basically the song summaries some of my fears about my feelings for her. I knew back in Feb. 2000 that there just wasn't anyway we could grow together as lovers should. Performed live, it actually did bring me to tears. I know she thinks I don't miss her, but really it is completely the opposite. I'm just so sad, but Further at least allows me to hold onto the knowledge that I'll remember the good times we had for the both of us.

OK, keep in mind that I was standing behind a bunch of tall guys. So I was dancing and bouncing most of the show. Damn, I actually had floor space. People were clearing away from me. I must have jumped and stomped for over 2 hours yesterday.

-=-

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