Killing Joke @ Billboard, Melbourne (Fri 7 Jun 2013)

went to this 10 years ago

Not a hell of a lot to say about this Killing Joke show except that Billboard as a venue really does suck. The sound tonight was horrible. It was too loud and had far too much bottom end for such a small room. The only remedy for loudness is obviously ear plugs which only accentuate the bottom end. No matter- it was still a fine gig, but I won’t be seeing any bands at Billboard in a hurry. This show’s experience goes a long way to explaining why we didn’t enjoy George Clinton at the same venue as much as we probably should have.

I’d not seen Killing Joke before, but wifey had and was a big fan. We went to this one with Albatron the brother-in-law.

Tonight was the second show of the Australian tour. Four shows over four nights in four different capital cities- that’s pretty grueling, especially for a band who are no longer in the prime of their youth.

Only days before the tour, Paul Ferguson announced that he wouldn’t be touring due to increasingly painful tendonitis, and that Jason Bowld would be filling in on the skins. Jesus, that man can play!

Killing Joke at Billboard, MelbourneJaz was on fire, and even though the sound was so bad, it still ended being a good show. Geordie looked positively bored for the entire set. Whether he was just over it or conserving energy for the next few nights will forever plague my thoughts. It did actually bother me more than it should have. Youth looked to be having fun and only stood out a little in his Hawaiian shirt.

Upshot: see Killing Joke if you can, avoid Billboard.

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went to this 10 years ago