[Front 242 7.25.1998]
Bauhaus 9.25.1998
Frontline Assembly 5.22.1999
Front 242, Project Pitchfork, Spahn Ranch
July 25th, 1998
The Palace
We arrived at the Palace as Spahn Ranch was playing.
There were some black-clad people standing around
outside the theater, so I knew we were in the right place.
I’ve only heard one Spahn Ranch song, so I
didn’t know what to expect. They turned out to be
pretty good. The singer was wearing a suit and the
drummer was a big, buff dude playing drum pads. He
was really pounding on the pads, so it looked funny.
They sound cool, but there wasn’t anything particularly
special about their music. After their set we walked
around, went up the grand staircase and came into
this room where everyone was smoking. It was surreal.
We found the balcony and took some seats where we
could see the stage.
After the house DJ played some cool tunes Project
Pitchfork came onstage and started playing. These guys
were awesome. They sound really aggressive and pissed off.
I thought it was amusing that the drummer looked like a
gangsta, like he wandered in off the street. "Hey man,
you guys need a drummer?" Their stage antics were annoying
though. The singer would move like he was about to kiss
the guitarist, and then at the last minute he’d pull away.
He kept this up for 10 tedious minutes. I was like, "Damnit
man, just fucking kiss him." The singer reminded me of
Trent Reznor, with that stringy long hair and fucked up
clothing look.
We went down to the floor after Project Pitchfork
and found a fairly good spot. I’ve read that Front 242’s
old shows had really cool stage setups, with military gear
and TV monitors and such. This time, however, there wasn’t
anything on stage besides the drums and keyboards on short
platforms in back. Front 242 started to play around 9:15,
which seemed awfully early to me. Anyway, the first song
started out slowly, the keyboardist repeating the same 4
notes. A cool bass line started to pulsate. Then the
drummer joined in, gradually getting louder and faster.
There was a brief pause, and the song exploded into an
awesome dance, techno-like beat. The buildup was so cool.
The singer, Richard, had spiky orange hair and goggles and
was jumping all over the stage. A pit formed and I was
pushed back behind these 2 tall dudes I could barely see
over. A few songs later Jean-Luc De Meyer joined in with
the singing. I was surprised that I recognized him from a
picture I’ve seen. The light show was pretty cool, neat
strobe effects and black lights. They finished around 10:30.
While it was a cool show, I have to admit that it
wasn’t anything special. I wasn’t a huge fan of Front 242
to begin with cause they sound too much like techno, just
the same thing over and over again. On this tour they
played techno mixes of their old songs, so it was even
more repetitive. While techno might be cool to listen and
dance to live, it’s just boring when you’re listening to
it sitting by yourself in your room. Pretty much every
song had that fast, beat-heavy, high energy sound. They
reminded me a bit of Prodigy too, with the two singers
dressed like ravers and the way they bounced around and
danced a lot.
When we left the Palace there was a huge mainstreamer
crowd lined up outside. Later I found out it was KIIS
night, which explained why Front 242 finished so early.
KIIS is a local radio station that plays that
"Urban Contemporary/Alternative" bullshit.
