Skinny Puppy or Tom Jones?

[Dusty Chalk]

Alright, this is actually the choice I had in front of me the other night, and I went with Skinny Puppy. They're my #1 favourite band of all time (tied with two others for first place), and I'd never seen them before. I had the chance back in the 90's, but I didn't because of two things: they scared me, and I heard the shows were "messy" (as in, Gwar messy). Well, this one wasn't all that messy, but man, was it scary. Ogre comes out in this nightmarish costume with straight-jacket straps, a beak, and not just corpse-paint, but rotting, degenerating corpse-paint. It was quite meticulously painted on, and very realistic until he started sweating. And getting messy. Yes, there was much substance abuse: mud, blood, some sort of oozy chemical substance (this was in a gas mask, from which he slurped and spat -- I'm not sure if it was supposed to be vomit, or, due to the name of the song -- "VX Gas Attack" -- chemical warfare-type chemicals -- either way, it was disgustingly convincing), as well as other things. Ogre himself is quite the showman -- not sure if he ousts Tom Jones, but he might -- lots of posing and energy. He was definitely on.

And the music -- excellent: cEvin Key (multi-instrumentalist) played mostly drums all night, and he was excellent. What Jay would call an "overplayer", but we all know how much I love wankers, so that's a good thing. This is industrial music, drums are key. If you aren't grooving to it, something's wrong. Mark Walk was in an intense noise-cage, and...I forget his name, but he's played with them before...this priest guy played guitar -- one of Steinberg's new double-necked guitar/bass thingies (buitar?).

Anyway, the point of this is -- knowing what you know, which would you have chosen?

Me, I can die a happy man, I've now seen all three of my favourite bands live.

[nobody]

I may be one of the few out there that would also see this as a tough call. I probably would have gone to Tom Jones, just because I've seen Skinny Pupy before.

That said, Skinny Puppy puts on a great show, and starting from scratch, I may well have gone with 'em. Newer industrial bands need to take note, industrial shows used to often contain some sort of spectacle. Hiding behind a wall of electronics and making sure you can't be seen and called rock star does not make for an entertaining evening. You are on stage to give the people a show. You need to do something in that direction. If I want to sit around and hear prerecorded versions of your tunes without getting a glimpse of you, I will stay home and listen to records.

I saw a couple of these newer bands over the last year or so, who made such little impression I couldn't even tell ya the names. Anyway, they played their stuff, mostly pre-recorded, from behind walls and equipment, never addressing the crowd, never doing anything remotely interesting. Music was OK, nothing groundbreaking or amazing to me. It may have benefited from a performer that actually wanted to perform. If you don't want to be a star, don't be one already, just put out the records and stay off the touring circuit. And, have fun at your day job.

[-Jar-]

I may be one of the few out there that would also see this as a tough call. I probably would have gone to Tom Jones, just because I've seen Skinny Pupy before.



which tour did you see them on?

I caught both the TOO DARK PARK and LAST RIGHTS tours. The TOO DARK PARK show was just downright disturbing. Besides the freakish costumes, they showed these films.. suicides caught on tape.. a snuff film (real?), just.. crazy frightening stuff.. the kinds of things you don't easily forget.. and not the gross-out venerial disease kind of stuff that the Butthole Surfers used to show. The next tour was great too, but I don't remember it being quite as disturbing. Anyway, I'm glad I caught them a few times.

now.. we have to guess who Dusty's other two favorites are.

I would maybe guess.. Pink Floyd and Paul Schutze, though he's not really a band is he?

hmmm

-jar

[Dusty Chalk]

now.. we have to guess who Dusty's other two favorites are.

I would maybe guess.. Pink Floyd and Paul Schutze, though he's not really a band is he?I don't keep it a secret, but I'll let you guess if you like -- Pink Floyd was correct, the other was wrong, although I do dig 'em. Don't forget -- I've seen all three live. Gosh, I would love to see Paul Schutze live, I can't even imagine what that would be like.

And no, I've never seen Klaus Schulze live, although I think I have the most CD's by him. That's mostly because he's so prolific. But somewhere along the line, I think he worked his way into my top 10.

Also, I try to say something generic like "act" instead of "band" or "artist". Although in my top 3's case, they're all bands.

[vivisimonvi]

Interesting to see Puppy fans on this board (mysteriously strange to me personally)... My all time favorite band for so many years, I regret the fact not catching their current tour (I've never been to one). I've always wanted to catch one of their shows sometime in this life... not just shows I've seen on tape (the Too Dark Park tour was the most fascinating of shows to most fans, unfortunately no one I've talked to has any TDP shows on tape).

The new album I think is fantastic. Puppy never fails to please...

-VIVIsimonVI

[nobody]

which tour did you see them on?


-jar


Saw the one with the snuff films, so I guess Too Dark Park. Sometime late 80s early 90s. Missed a chance to see 'em earlier. Had a couple friends go catch 'em in around 86-87 or so. Probably should have gone since it would have been fun to see 'em early on. From what I heard they weren't as good then though without the extensive theatrics and all.

Yeah, much more disturbing than B<a>utthole Surfers. Had a bad expierence with a couple friends and a sheet of acid when I last saw those guys. Weird night indeed. Much more humor and all that though. That one's stuck in my memory too.