KMFDM doing it again. This time it was at Brooklyn Bowl in Philadelphia.
One of the more prolific Industrial bands, KMFDM has a reputation for releasing an album every one and a half years and touring in support of that album shortly after that. This year marks the fortieth year of touring and their twenty-third album entitled Let Go (Metropolis Records, read our review here). The band’s longevity can be attributed to their Synthpop-infused Industrial sound and connection with the audience. Band members are often readily accessible to the crowd before and after the show, something that is pretty rare in this day of paid Patreon accounts.
No band can manage to last that long without a few lineup changes but their heart is still in the same place and their style is still under the control of founding member, vocalist, and lead programmer Sascha Konietzko. Lucia Cifarelli joins him on vocals and Andy Selway on drums, who have both been part of the band since 2002. Completing the lineup is the newest member, guitarist Andee Blacksugar (Blondie) who joined in 2017.
Wherever KMFDM goes, there is sure to be a party and Brooklyn Bowl was no exception. Located minutes off of Highway 95 or 676, Brooklyn Bowl sits next to another Live Nation venue, Franklin Music Hall. Across the street is a large beer garden and comedy club. Ample paid parking is steps away.
As you enter through the front doors amid tight security, a large bar is straight ahead, and true to its name there are several bowling lanes on the right. A large bar sits to the left and available is a large selection of drinks and food items including vegan and vegetarian options. If instead of going straight you turned to the right, you would see a set of stairs leading up and this is where tickets are scanned. Entry into the downstairs bowling bar and restaurant is free.
The party started downstairs with Philadelphia icon, DJ Mighty Mike Saga, playing what he jokingly referred to as Easy-listening Industrial. High-energy music with a dance beat was exactly what was needed to prepare the crowd for the evening to come. Getting a beer and a bite to eat with Saga providing the soundtrack was the perfect way to ease into the mood.
Upstairs the show began promptly at eight with the Swedish Industrial band Morlocks. They have been around in various incarnations since 1990 but it was in 2011 that Morlocks was discovered by the headliner KMFDM and a collaboration began. Both bands feature similar lineups. Both use a male and a female vocalist which provides a much broader range for the lyrics and creates more opportunities when composing songs. Frontman and founder Johann Strauss provide vocals and keyboards while Innocentius Rabiatus is on lead guitar. As her moniker would suggest, Lamashtu is a fearsome woman who plays bass and provides an expansion of the vocal range. Filling out the foursome is Reverend Grudge on rhythm guitar.
Morlocks’ Industrial, Techno-punk sound was the perfect prelude to the KMFDM set and they impressed the audience from the start. A fast-paced, no-nonsense forty-five minute set started with “Mean World Syndrome” and also included “I Am The Payload” and, a crowd favorite, “Dicks In Tanks.” The social consciousness of the songs hints at their Swedish homeland. After the set, the Morlocks members joined the audience and spoke with everyone who wanted to, much like their KMFDM mentors. That kind of performance and the demonstrated accessibility will engender them to the audience quickly and this is probably not going to be their last American appearance. Expect great things.
KMFDM took to a stage covered with light towers, and lights on the floor, and had even built their own miniature proscenium arch over the drum riser to hold more lights. Two lecterns were set up from which Lucia and Sascha delivered their performances. It seems that they have two speeds, fast and faster. After forty years, there are a lot of songs available to fill out a set and it turned into a stroll through the years. Of course, there was strong representation from the most recent album. “Liquor Fish & Cigarettes” was particularly fun and transitioned into “Rebels In Kontrol” which starts out with a staccato delivery bordering on rap as it builds in intensity. Other highlights included a guitar solo from Andee on “Blindface” and the end of the seventeen-song set with the classic “A Drug Against War.”
Is a seventeen-song set enough? Not for this band. There are still multiple encore performances to get through and the first of these is a song from Lucia Cifarelli’s solo work “No God Here.” Slower and more intense, it uses a violin and guitar rather than the synthesizer we have become accustomed to. Four more songs close out with the powerful protest song “Paradise.” At the conclusion, the band leaves the stage while the programming masterfully continues to carry the melody leaving the stage empty and the room still filled with sound.
The tour continues through the end of March and some dates are still available. It is easy to see why shows are selling out.
Setlist:
- All 4 1
- Let Go
- Freak Flag
- Hyëna
- Airhead
- Tohuvabohu
- Oh My Goth
- Naïve
- Touch
- Go to Hell
- Push!
- Liquor Fish & Cigarettes
- Rebels In Kontrol
- Turn The Light On
- Bumaye
- Blindface
- A Drug Against War
Encore:
- No God Here
- Megalomaniac
- When The Bell Tolls
- Godlike
- Paradise
To support Lucia Cifarelli’s Kickstarter campaign for her solo album:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/luciacifarelli/lucia-cifarelli-no-god-here
Buy KMFDM music and merch here:
https://amzn.to/3TCdzHX
WRITTEN BY MATTHEW KOCHEK
PHOTOS BY KIM HANSEN @PHARMADIVER