Infest
2016:
Atari Teenage Riot/Leaether Strip/Pop Will Eat Itself/3Teeth/Velvet
Acid Christ/Dead When I Found Her/Grausame Toechter/Displacer/Monica
Jeffries/Rroyce/Vigilante/Me The Tiger/Hysteresis/Massive
Ego/Tapewyrm/Johnny Normal
Bradford
University, West
Yorkshire - 26-28 August 2016
"An
eclectic year even by Infest's usual eclectic standards"
On
the morning before heading up to Bradford for the eighteenth
incarnation of Infest, I posted on Facebook saying I was about to
embark on what I referred to as the 'annual pilgrimage' to West
Yorkshire. But it isn't blind faith that guides me.
In truth, I've only ever attended Infest based purely on the lineup.
Having said that, I have attended 14*
out of the 18 to date. So the overlap has had an impressive hit rate so
far.
Rather than announce the lineup either in its entirety, or in a couple
of major chunky updates, the Infest team
start early in the year, steadily drip feeding the band names, one by
one, each week on social media and via their email newsletter. As
tantalising as this is, I know for some it makes committing to the
festival early on a challenge. If you grab your (discounted) ticket by
booking early you run the slight risk that the final lineup doesn't
quite do it for you. But such is the draw of Infest and its legion of
faithful and passionate followers, that is precisely what many do. (£60
for the entire weekend for 16 bands is darn good value in anyone's
book.)
For others, me included, it's a case of watching the announcements to
see when the list of confirmed names reaches that tipping point when
you know it is worth the investment of time and money. This year, I was
wavering until quite late. It wasn't until both Leaether Strip and
Velvet Acid Christ were announced that the deal was sealed for me.
Day
1: Friday 26th
Out of Line label act Massive
Ego
were an excellent choice to open Infest 2016. Their melodic dark
synthwave sound is slap bang in the middle of the Infest genre
spectrum, and they put on a visually arresting show. Everything from
the projected visuals to founder and front man Marc Massive's striking
appearance (think Mickey Mouse as styled by Dolce & Gabbana)
make
Massive Ego worth adding to your 'check em out list' if you've not yet
seen them.
They topped and tailed their thirty minute set with two of
their
strongest songs, starting with Low
Life and ending on their successful single I Idolize You.
I know from chatting with fellow Infesters that this was the
first live sampling of the band for many and they will have undoubtedly
earned
more
followers as a result.
Massive Ego setlist: Low
Life, Drag Me In Drag Me Under, Coldest Light Of Day, Let Go, Eighth
Day, Dead Silence Rising, I Idolize You
Swedish three piece Me The
Tiger
are most
easily categorised as electropop but that narrow label doesn't do their
complex sound justice. Of all the acts this year new to me (of which
there were many) Me The Tiger were one that instantly grabbed me in the
run up to this weekend with
their promos on YouTube. Having now seen them live,
the pre-festival sampling I had turned out to be a good representation
of the eclectic influences at work
in their songwriting. (Their well-chosen cover version of Cyndi
Lauper's Time After Time
though was absent from tonight's set.)
On stage they were more animated and edgy than anticipated.
Largely thanks to guitarist Tobias Andersson who was aggressively
leaping, jumping,
and diving around the stage. His musical contribution an example of
what
helps set this band apart. Gabriella Astrom provides the vocals up
front and there's a distinctly Swedish accented tone to her voice
that's light as a wisp when she wants it to be, but can belt out a
chorus if required. A youthful-looking Jonas Martinsson on drums
completes the band.
Incorporating various alternative styles
into their sound, they manage to carve out their own, rather than
coming
across like some incoherent bunch of disparate elements. Interesting
that their approach appealed to a lot of
people whose personal tastes varied quite widely. Everyone I
spoke with afterwards
heaped praise on the band. Me The Tiger were the first most
talked-about act of the 2016 lineup.
Me The Tiger setlist: Dreams,
Pocket Sized Edition Ending, Myheroine, Slottet, Headlines, What
Promises Are Worth, Ariana, As We Really Are, All We Had
Photos [L-R]: Massive Ego, Me The Tiger, Dead When I Found
Her
Starting the set with
The Unclean was a brave way for Michael Arthur Holloway
from Portland, Oregon, aka Dead
When I Found Her, to raise the curtain on his UK debut.
Opening with a sample from John Carpenter's The Fog it sounds
like solid enough ground but the remainder of the
barely-over-two-minutes track is an unconventional exercise in audio
cut-up, wildly variable tempos and stop/start breaks. It was a bold way
to get people's attention and to challenge any preconceptions there may
have been out there.
However, no sooner did the distinctly Front Line Assembly Better Days kick
off than Holloway and his assistant rapidly calm any faltering nerves.
Interesting then that having got everyone moving they followed that
with the moody Expiring
Time, the slowest song of their set. Perhaps sensing the
Infest crowd were expecting a set of back to back higher BPM tracks,
Holloway said at the end "Thank
you, that was a slow one" before picking up his guitar for
Fixer Fixed.
Openly acknowledging inspiration as coming from electro-industrial acts
from the late 80s and early 90s, since starting in 2010 there have been
three albums to date (all on Artoffact) and tonight's set drew on all
three.
Their 45minute set flew past and rounded out a
rock solid start to the festival. In chats afterwards, the names Skinny
Puppy and Front Line Assembly cropped
up more than once.
This was clearly a very good thing. And so were Dead When I Found Her.
Dead
When I Found Her setlist: The
Unclean,
Better Days,
Expiring Time,
Fixer Fixed,
New Drugs,
The Proof,
Rain Machine,
Tantrum, Spitting Seeds
Nailing
the 'old favourites' slot this year, Pop
Will Eat Itself
headlined day one. Personally, the choice seemed a little like
stretching
the scope of Infest's remit a bit too far, but I know the organisers
would disagree.
And I hold up my hand - because I was wrong. The Poppies (as they are
affectionately known) are not exactly the same band they
were back in their late 80s heydays.
I'd heard that there was only one original member remaining. Even PWEI
currently refer to themselves as PWEI 'V2.0' to avoid any
confusion and
manage expectations, but on stage tonight one of them pointed
out that (early to mid 90s) drummer Fuzz Townshend was back
with
them, so they were
technically closer to the original line up than in the recent past.
(Founder member Clint Mansell left
the band back in 1996, carving out a successful new
career as a significant film soundtrack composer . These include an
unforgettably schizophrenic score to Darren Aronofsky's harrowing and
brilliant Requiem For A
Dream (and more recently: The
Wrestler, Moon
and Black Swan).
Personally, I'd have been happier if it was Mansell on stage.)
Joking that they were now PWEI "Version
four and a half",
whatever the intricacies of
the members, there was no denying that a) their name had drawn a large
number of fans, and b) even if you were only partial to
some of their stuff, or not even a fan, then the show they gave here
delivered the goods.
And this in spite of them somehow forgetting to pack a megaphone - the
trademark of some of their biggest hits. Once this equipment oversight
was discovered one of the Infest Crew was tasked with running into
Bradford city centre to procure one. Which they did just in time for
when PWEI took to the stage.
Like most casual listeners, I only know a couple of their hits, with Beaver Patrol being
the only one I'd be able to give you a half-remembered rendition of, so
my interest was limited. (Curiously, Beaver
Patrol
didn't make the setlist tonight.) It was a rollicking show, there
being something of a guilty
pleasure
in
seeing a couple of middle-aged white guys prowling around the stage
with only mics doing their rap thing - and pulling it off fairly
convincingly. After all, back in the day PWEI did support Run
DMC
and
Public Enemy. Although I remained largely unconverted, I did have a
smile on my face throughout, and the reception they got, in part from
the decent number of fans here, confirmed their booking was a
popular choice.
Pop Will Eat Itself setlist: The
Incredible P.W.E.I. vs The Moral Majority, Preaching To the Perverted,
Dance of the Mad Bastards, Everything's Cool, Wise Up! Sucker,
Nosebleeder Turbo TV, Director's Cut, R.S.V.P., Chaos & Mayhem,
OldSkool Cool, Watch The Bitch Blow, They Can't Take (What You
Won't
Let 'Em Have), Ich Bin Ein Auslander, Get the Girl! Kill The Baddies!,
Their Law, Can U Dig It, Def.Con.One
Photos [L-R]: Pop Will Eat Itself, Tapewyrm, Monica Jeffries
Day 2: Saturday 27th
A nod here
to DJ Inappropriate Affect,
the first DJ of the weekend that really caught my
attention. His set directly before Tapewyrm was all instrumental and
suitably atmospheric - setting us up nicely for what followed.
The six band lineup on the Saturday always starts around four in
the afternoon and getting that ball rolling this year was Tapewyrm -
the performance name of Michael Drayven, a one-man noise project from
the UK. That's a
pretty rare thing so it was good to see and hear the noisier side of
this
year's Infest represented by a local. All five songs in the
set
came from his latest album Triptych.
This was pretty heavy but there was enough in there to
make
at it classifiable as rhythmic noise - for me the most
rewarding seam of the noise genre. All instrumental, the tracks were
surprisingly minimal in nature. They were also very bass
synth/percussion loop driven and repetitive, making me think
at
times like I was almost listening to Krautrock noise for the first
time. A not unpleasant experience. It was impressive just how much of
an enveloping sound Drayven manage to create from so few elements.
Clever stuff.
Tapewyrm setlist: Nemesis,
Hierophant, Empurata, Martyr, Ascension
Monica Jeffries
hails from Poland.
Aided on stage by a synth player and bassist, her brand of
romantic Gothic synth rock was another smart selection by the festival
organisers. (Slightly random I know, but her appearance made me think
of a
youthful, very svelte Helen Mirren!)
It must be difficult pulling together a shortlist of
potential acts every year, but Infest always manages to incorporate new
or
rising names that (in the UK at least) are little known, and yet are
well placed to win over new followers. If such an act appears on stage
at
Infest then they've had the best opportunity to broaden their fan base
in the UK, bar none. So, best they don't blow it.
A friend showed me
he'd purchased Jeffries' latest (second) album Into Temptation
directly after
seeing
her on stage, perfectly demonstrating that principle. This was
Jeffries' UK debut and the combination of her distinctive
voice and moody, mid-tempo style worked
well, ensuring she held a good sized
audience captive for the duration of her set. A special mention too for
the striking black and white abstract imagery projected throughout.
Monica
Jeffries setlist: Intro,
Window Of Hope, New Moon Rising, In Circles, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The
Road Ahead (Hybrid Version), No More, Old Demons, Waiting for Godot
(Moonlight Version)
Hysteresis were
another act that came at me out of nowhere. Although they actually came
from
Belgium. Hysteresis
can be
found on the German Hands label - a steady supplier of acts to Infest
down the years and some of my greatest discoveries here. [Note
to self: need to do more homework on the artists on Hands I'm not already
familiar with.]
This
was another UK debut and delivered just the sort of thing
I come to Infest to get an education on. Their eclectic style is almost
anti-genre. Deliberately drawing on a wide range of musical genres
including drum and bass, electro, IDM, dark techno, and breakbeat,
whilst remaining grounded in
industrial, they drop in mystical
sitars, ethnic chanting,
elements of
world music and b-movie samples just to ensure you can never really pin
them down.
L'ouvrier
meprise et suspecte reminded
me a little of Isle of
Man by
Ministry - when they fleetingly did the heavy electronics bit so
convincingly on Twitch. There
was a
cover of The
Sound of The Big Baboo by Laurent Garnier, and one
highlight
was the banging Calculus.
Most
unexpected musical moment of the weekend had to
be set
closer Shiver,
which
miraculously incorporates the unmistakable melody from (a pre-dad's
band)
Status Quo's Pictures
Of Matchstick
Men, that surely deserves some kind of special award for
ingenuity. Sublime.
Hysteresis setlist: Hellish
Gospels, Gramsci in the Caribbean, L'ouvrier meprise et suspecte, Calculus, Hersenreiniging, The
Sound of the Big Baboo [L. Garnier cover], Analogik, Coercion
& Consent, Shiver
The show put on by Grausame
Toechter
created one of the biggest talking
points. Debates raged about their presentation which, on
the one hand, was seen as a bold feminist power game in which
scantily, fetish gear-clad women had the audience eating out
of
their
hands (even if only in terms of capturing everyone's attention). Whilst
on the
other
hand, it was seen simply perhaps by some as a chance for lecherous men
to gawk at naked
women - oblivious to (or couldn't give a damn for) any greater message.
The truth of Grausame Toechter perhaps lies somewhere in between. I'm
all up for artists
making an effort to put on a show, but get slightly skeptical when it
becomes the main talking point instead of the music. Which was fine, if
unremarkable. The
lead singer did eventually get completely naked by the end of their set
and apparently pissed on the stage. All of which was of minor interest
to me as I'd wandered off mid-set, returning only for the last couple
of
numbers.
Photos [L-R]: Hysteresis, Grausame
Toechter, Velvet Acid Christ
I've long been a fan of Bryan Erickson's Velvet
Acid Christ
project. For more than twenty years he's carved out a niche that is his
and his alone. I'd never wish hardship on anyone, but it's
largely
on
account of Erickson channeling his sometimes troubled life (drug
dependency,
depression, poverty) that he somehow manages
to transform all that depressing negativity into thrilling
songwriting. The results may inevitably be dark in terms of subject
matter, but with a tendency to utilise electro-industrial and trance as
the delivery styles,
he has created some stunning compositions down the years.
Known for his casual, rambling chatting between songs, there wasn't
much of that tonight. Perhaps Erickson's is getting the better of his
personal demons, perhaps he just wanted to get on with the music.
Having traveled from his home in Colorado in the US, I believe his
three-piece
backing band (two sets of synths and a drummer) were assembled from
local talent. VAC has
always been a solo project that recruits assistance as
and when required, particularly for touring, so this wasn't anything
unusual and not a shortcoming.
When he wasn't playing some of his own unforgettable hooklines, or
getting on the floor to tweak the effects his voice was going through,
Erickson did his usual prowling around the stage, microphone held
tightly between both hands. Less fraught that it
used to be, he still looks like a man possessed at times. The set
included a good selection of classics as well as newer material I'm
less familiar with. Some of the older songs seem to have improved with
age. He opened with Pretty
Toy,
which when it came out I
wasn't exactly blown away by,
but here it
provided the perfect start to the set.
Hearing more recent material
like Evoked,
Bend The Sky
and Septic Rinse,
all from the album Maldire,
reminded me I still need to fill in some gaps in my VAC album
collection. And few can use extended film and TV samples to such
thrilling effect. The Borg from Star
Trek Next Generation on Futile
and
especially the Fear And
Loathing In Las Vegas ones in Fun
With Drugs got
instant roars of approval.
Whilst this performance was largely free of the angst and trauma that
drove (and at times almost killed) Erickson in the past, it never
lacked impact. His writing is very personal and openly emotional, often
exploring issues
he's desperately passionate about, requiring full commitment when
performed live. It isn't possible to
deliver these songs half-heartedly. So whilst to newcomers he may lack
the polish or swagger of some of his scene peers' stage personas, few
can match him for
his honest, unfiltered delivery. Erickson remains one of those rarities
in music these days. A genuinely unique individual, whose only concern
is to remain true to himself and his writing, and fuck everyone else.
Glorious stuff.
Velvet Acid Christ setlist: Pretty
Toy, Malfunction,
Futile, Fun With Drugs, Evoked, Vaporised, Bend
The Sky, Phucking
Phreak, Septic
Rinse, Dial
8,
Icon, Dilaudid
Alec Empire's Atari Teenage
Riot have managed to stand the test of
time. Back in the day (like decades
ago) my wife was the bigger fan
than I, but that meant I have seen ATR/Empire a few times down
those decades.
Once or twice the impact has been remarkable. At one of those gigs, at
The Garage in
London in 2001, I
first caught support act Zan Lyons. As
much as the Alec Empire show that night was probably the best one I've
been to,
it was Lyons that caught me by surprise and I've been a fan since. No
coincidence then that tonight's ATR lineup included Lyons on stage
where he was responsible for manipulating most of the music. Lyons
posted on Facebook in the run up to the festival that he was providing
the visuals for the show. No mention that he'd also be on stage, so it
was good seeing him there.
Empire is good at creating an air of myth about himself, in part it
seems by deliberately being 'difficult' or, at least, demanding.
Examples of that were apparent at Infest. When the annual commemorative
festival T-Shirt was announced by the organisers, it was pointed out
that the ATR logo couldn't appear on the design as permission wasn't
granted for its use on merchandise. Also, and from an admittedly
slightly selfish perspective, it was made clear, in no uncertain terms,
that Empire would not allow the usual press photography (not even for
the first three songs as is standard) during the ATR set.
Who knows
what the reason behind these prohibitions was? Perhaps there was some
contractual wrangling happening behind the scenes that meant Empire
couldn't agree to these things even if he had wanted to. Personally, I
suspect it was more to cultivate and propagate the Alec Empire myth.
Whilst this was a minor inconvenience, it was kinda daft. Although
there were clearly two photographers in the pit during the ATR
performance (I'm guessing one the official Infest photographer and one
personally approved by Empire to capture the performance for
posterity). So, whilst that meant that no other professional
photographers were able to record the show in their usual impressive
manner, it didn't stop the hundreds of festival goers, some right in
front of the barrier at the foot of the stage, recording the show on
their phones. So we have shoddy video footage of questionable quality
and a smattering of fan shots taken from the midst of the mosh pit.
Still, I guess that's
all
entirely in keeping with Empire's contrary persona.
Musically, it was pretty much the least
captivating ATR show I've seen.
All the edge has gone from the delivery (even though Empire doesn't
appear to have physically aged in about 20 years!). Repeatedly shouting
"Make
some fucking noise!"
between songs may
have all been part of the act, but it came across as being provocative
for provocatives sake and a touch lazy. Instead of working his arse
off to earn the roar of the crowd, he simply demanded it. As soon as I
get a whiff that what's
happening on stage isn't artistically genuine then you lose my
interest. But, (again) the
majority of the crowd appeared to view things differently,
faithfully punching the air when instructed to do so by Empire, and
they
seemed to enjoy doing so.
Photos [L-R]: Johnny Normal, Vigilante, Rroyce
Day 3: Sunday 28th
People often say that Johnny
Normal
sounds like Gary Numan - which I
disagree with. Whilst it is apparent that Numan (among other 80s synth
acts) is clearly an
inspiration, Normal's style is more eclectic, drawing on a variety
of genres. So I never hear a Johnny Normal song and think that sounds
like Numan. More that you can tell where the influences lie.
Stylistically, Normal pulls together a diverse set of musical
influences, and mashes it up into what he describes as post-punk,
electronic rock-pop. Consequently, the results can be a bit hit and
miss.
Explicitly acknowledging his
influences, Normal has just released a tribute to Adam and The Ants' Kings of The Wild Frontier
by covering the entire album. Aside from approaching the album by
arranging the songs primarily for synths, another distinguishing factor
here
is that original Ants member Marco Pirroni worked with Normal
on
the album,
contributing guitar elements. So, it came as no surprise that today's
set included three Ants songs, opening with Ants Invasion, with
Killer In The Home
popping up
mid-set and closing on a frantic Antmusic.
Prior to the festival, I wasn't sure how closely the Johnny Normal
sound
would align with the Infest crowd, but he went down well.
Johnny Normal setlist: Ants
Invasion
[Ants cover], Remember
Me,
Alive, The London Sound, Killer in the Home [Ants
cover], Miss
Razorblade, Don't Blow It, Robot
Rock, Antmusic [Ants cover]
Vigilante
is one Ivan Munoz from Chile.
According to the pre-fest hype, we could expect: "A raging electronic power
station with
bright alleys, dark corners, twisted corridors... delivering a
heavy electronic punch in your face!" He
calls it
'Industep'
(a mix of industrial and dubstep). As awkward as that sounds, it's an
accurate steer. I've always
been relaxed about the blending of the two styles. I know other
industrial music fans think the combination close to sacrilege. What we
got certainly lived up to the description, although there was more
metal guitar than I was expecting.
Probably
still suffering from the Saturday night/Sunday morning hangover, it's
fair to say that the crowd were initially a little subdued - it was
only 5pm after all. That may have been so, but Munoz
wasn't going to accept that. He hadn't come all this way to get a
half-awake reception. He wanted to hear them. After the intro of Crossroads, We Are One
was the perfect song to wake everyone up proper and get them into gear
for what followed. The grinding metal guitar that peppers his writing
helped. But just to be sure no-one was napping on their feet, Munoz
took it upon himself to jump off the stage, climb over the barrier and
head out into the audience during Illumination,
waving the mic around, getting them to join in the chorus. By the time
we got into the Die Krupps-like Kosmos
it was fair to say the last remnants of any lethargy had been well and
truly blown away.
Vigilante setlist: Crossroads
(intro), We Are One, Illumination, Kosmos, Into The War, Under The Sun,
Turning Point, It's Our Time, Fire, The New Resistance
Rroyce describe
their sound as "Wave-Electro-Synth-Pop
updated
for the modern era".
I'm happy to confess a partial weakness for such things. There's no
shortage of bands doing it, several convincingly
well, many
of
whom have appeared at Infest down the years. So, Rroyce's inclusion in
the 2016 running order seemed like solid booking.
Annoyingly, I missed the start of their set. I was deep in conversation
away from the stage. It was only when I noticed lots of clapping that I
realised the music wasn't coming from one of the DJs! Although I had a
photo pass, meaning I could have taken up a position in the photo pit
at
the foot of the stage, I didn't know how many songs Rroyce were into
their set so opted to watch from the other side of the barrier.
Turns
out the clapping was for their first song, so I hadn't missed much.
With the release of their second album Karoshi imminent
their appearance at Infest was part of a promotional tour that sees
them playing dates through to December. So, we got to hear three new
album tracks including The
Principle of Grace, Who Needs and I Like It When You Lie.
For some reason, I thought Rroyce had been around a lot longer than
they
have (their first album came out only in 2014). Their
sound
faces a lot of competition (not least from their German countrymen),
where a
seemingly never-ending and abundant supply of synthpop acts acts have
championed the genre since the end of the 80s. More familiarity with
their material might have helped
me set Rroyce apart from their competitors. Lead singer Casi Kriegler won
the crowd over with his slightly tongue-in-cheek sense of humour,
e.g. at the end of Who
Needs
giving the devilish sign of the horns and shouting "Synth-pop and roll!".
Rroyce setlist: Over
and Over, The
Principle of Grace, Who Needs, Hide Behind, Thank You I'm Scared,
Bohemian Life, Run Run Run, 1234, I Like It When You Lie, Malacoda
Photos
[L-R]: Displacer, Leaether Strip, 3Teeth
I
was so
busy in the run up to this year's festival, consequently doing little
of the pre-fest research I usually do. There are pros and cons to this.
The cons being you're unable to plan your weekend around the 'must-see'
and 'no loss' acts - handy when there are 16 bands. The pros being you
(well I at least) need to get down the front for every single band on
the punt that anyone of them could turn out to be your best new
favourite band. Canadian
Michael
Morton, aka Displacer,
fulfilled that opportunity for me this year. That he's got to releasing
11 albums since 2003 (several on three labels I know reasonably well -
M-Tronic, Tympanik and Hymen), none of which has previously come to my
attention is as baffling as it is enticing.
Assisted on stage tonight by UK scene stalwart Keef Baker on guitar,
this was a revelation, exhilarating from start to finish. First big
tick was that
this turned out to be 45 minutes of pure instrumental music - something
I'm always desperate to hear live (and you rarely get on the scene
outside
of the hardcore noise bracket).
Whilst this was dark it wasn't
brutal, it was melodic, varied and captivating. This
was more IDM than anything else - a genre that has provided me
with some of the most rewarding electronic music I've ever heard.
Someone familiar with the project told me the
set we
were witness to today was on the 'lighter' side of Displacer's
repertoire. Whatever the truth of it, I will definitely be
investigating
Morton's extensive back catalogue in fine detail. Personal
discovery of this year's festival for me.
Displacer setlist: Phantom
Limb,
Awakening,
Freefall,
Unbreakable,
Spare Parts,
The Witching Hour,
Cage Fighter's Lullaby,
Totality,
Gravitational
Amazing to think that despite having been going for 18 years, this was
the first time that Danish EBM legend Leaether
Strip
appeared at Infest. There's much to like about Claus Larsen's take on
the
genre. He never feels the need to slavishly restrict himself to a very
narrow interpretation of the genre, and yet he never strays very far
from it. This enables him to frequently indulge in his passion for
covering songs by other artists he admires, and tonight's set was no
exception. We got Black
Leather by The Klinik and Sex
Dwarf by Soft
Cell - introduced by Larsen as his favourite band of all time.
This was only my second time seeing Leaether Strip, which given
how long I've been into EBM (essentially since Front 242 pioneered it
back in the 80s), seems almost unfeasible. Even more surprising to me
was how many others said this was their first
time seeing them live. They tour regularly so it's not like we've been
short of opportunities. On the global scene, Leaether Strip are
justifiably recognised as one of the leading (and longest running) EBM
acts. It's a reputation well earned. For me, they were one of the two
main names on this year's bill that clinched the deal for me attending
(the other being Velvet Acid Christ). There was a tangible buzz about
their appearance this year and (although it is unclear just how much of
the music is actually being performed live) they didn't disappoint.
In spite of the growling vocal delivery and frequently dark subject
matter, it's also apparent just what a decent human being Larsen is.
Anyone following him online will know he's an engaging artist - happy
to chat with fans about the merits (or otherwise) of the scene, its
music, its labels and other artists. This is somewhat in contrast to
his on-stage delivery. Whilst he doesn't quite inhabit an entirely
different stage persona, the performing version of Claus Larsen makes
you believe in the content of the songs and his delivery is as
passionate as any out there.
Leaether Strip setlist: Don't
Tame Your Soul,
Civil Disobedience, Kiss
My Deutschland, Crash
Flight 232, Fit
For Flogging, Torment
Me, Strap
Me Down, I
Am Your Conscience, Japanese
Bodies, Black
Leather [The Klinik cover], Desert
Storm, Antius,
Body
Machine Body, Sex
Dwarf [Soft Cell cover]
US industrial crossover rockers 3Teeth
have risen from no-where in just three short years. Not long ago you
could have caught them in a pub or club, along
with 30-40 other like-minded individuals. Thanks to some musical skillz
and a canny press agent, and securing a plum support slot on the recent
Tool tour has cemented their rapid rise. That and being
written
about in such mass market publications such as Rolling Stone and
Billboard has
rocketed them to head of the scene. So much so that as they secured top
billing on day three, they were
effectively this year's festival headliners (even though it was Atari
Teenage Riot's logo that got the prime spot on the festival promotional
artwork).
Friends have raved about 3Teeth, so never having seen them before I was
interested to see just how impacting they'd be. First impressions were
promising. The lead singer sporting a slightly cyberpunk dandy look
with handlebar mustache and Victorian-style round sunglasses topped off
with a quality haircut. I was in the photo pit for the first three
songs, but once they were done (and we were turfed out) I didn't hang
around for their entire 75min set.
Don't get me wrong, they're great at what they do,
but what they do has been done so many time before. Fans will disagree,
arguing no doubt that 3Teeth bring their own take on a familiar genre
and give it a contemporary edge. Whilst that may be true to a degree,
as someone who saw and heard the emergence of the entire industrial
rock crossover genre decades ago, I couldn't discern enough
originality here to hold my attention. Still, I've attended enough gigs
in my life to realise that
judging a band purely on their live sound is unwise. So, I will check
out 3Teeth's recorded output before coming to a firm conclusion either
way.
I did pop back to catch the last couple of songs in their set just
to see if there was anything more engaging in there but it wasn't
apparent to me. Still, as often happens at Infest, I was clearly in the
minority. They had, and held, a big audience throughout their set and
there's no denying that they are perfect Infest material and closed
this year's proceedings in an appropriately ballsy and undeniably cool
fashion.
3Teeth setlist: NIHIL, X-Day, Zeit, Final Product, Dust, Slavegod, Insubstantia, Chasm, <shutdown.exe> ,Sell Your Face, Atrophy, Pearls 2 Swine, Dissolve, Master of Decay, Encore:
Eradicate
Infest
2016 was an eclectic lineup - even by Infest's already pretty eclectic
standards.
The best aspect of it was hearing two terrific sets from two legends in
Leaether Strip and Velvet Acid Christ, and discovering
several newer acts like Me The Tiger, Hysterisis, Displacer and Dead
When I Found
Her. The four biggest names: Atari Teenage Riot, Leaether Strip,
Pop Will Eat Itself, 3Teeth could each headline smaller events aimed at
entirely different audiences. And that's one of the powers of Infest -
both its programmers, and its audience, are up for bringing together,
under one roof, the diversity of the global electronic/alternative
scene.
We're an eclectic and open-minded bunch really, aren't we? 8/10
Review:
Rob Dyer
Photos: (C) AIWS @ www.aiws.lt
Official Infest website: InfestUK.com
See also:
Infest 2015
Infest 2014
Infest 2013
Infest 2012
Infest 2010
Infest 2008
Infest 2007
Infest 2006
Infest 2003
Infest 2001
InFest 2000
InFest '99
InFest '98