my review of the KMFDM show in seattle

[deeann mikula hartmann]

it's long, and more personal than most reviews, but i've never seen
KMDFM before and enjoyed it, so i want to share!

i saw KMFDM last night, at the new fenix underground.  (the old fenix
apparently closed down due to the earthquake damage from last year,
and only recently reopened.)  the fenix is walking distance from my
apt., but we opted for the $4 cab ride because of my stiletto ankle
witchy boots. now, i'm not a *huge* KMDFM fan, like gus (my husband);
i just kinda like a few songs, sometimes even forgetting that KMFDM is
the artist of those those songs.  gus, however, has all of their
releases, remixes, special editions, etc.  needless to say, he was
totally stoked to see them, whereas i was just enjoying having a
random night out in a pretty dress and great shoes.

if you don't know, KMDFM actually resides in seattle.  they started
their tour here, with an all ages show several weeks ago, and now were
ending it with an 21+ show.  they were so excited to be "home," and
had awesome energy because of that!  the members of the band were just
chilling around the bar with friends, it was totally low key, you'd
just be standing around the bar, and whoops, that was sasha you were
just making small talk with, or whoops, that's bill reeflin kicking
back a beer at the table next to you.  gus was losing his mind, i had
to tell him to stop pointing the band members out to me cause i didn't
care. :)

so about the show.  well, the first band was absolutely horrible.  and
i mean, *bad!!* i'd like to know who booked them so i can avoid future
shows that they book.  they were trying to be metal, trying to be
industrial, but doing neither well.  it sounded like each person was
playing their part of each song at a different tempo, and in a
different key, which can be cool if that's on purpose and orchestrated
well.  no.  really, they were terrible.  and the vocalist?  i don't
have that great of an ear, but she was so off-key that even i could
hear it.  flat flat flat flat.  like, did someone tell her she could
sing?  whomever it was, they should be found and shot.  probably one
of the worst bands i've ever seen live, actually.  i believe they are
from portland, so i don't think you'll have to worry about accidently
seeing them...

the second band was vile.  i mean, that was their name.  they were ok,
in that "KMFDM wanna-be" way.  by the time they were on, we had met up
with gus's friend from work and his entourage of 3 people, so we sat
and chatted comfortably at a table in a nice dark corner upstairs,
within easy range of both the bar and the bathrooms.  this is where i
should mention that i had some of the best bar service ever last
night.  since we were doing that "i'll buy a round then you buy a
round" kind of sharing the tab, one of us would go to the bar at a
time and order up.  when it was my turn (the second round, i believe)
i spied a nice boy with a tray in his hand and asked if he could help
me with my task.  he grabbed the bartender for me, and as i started in
on my order, she was like, "oh yah, and a this and a that and a bottle
of thing."  i was amazed, she had our order down pat, and this was far
from a slow night for them!  then the nice boy with a tray grabbed 5
bottles of water for me and escorted me back to the table and served
the drinks!  of course, all night we had our table wiped, glasses
cleared and ashtray emptied!  primo service!!

so what about KMDFM?!  well, they finally came on.  gus and his
co-worker sprung out of the chairs and ran downstairs, where they
joined the pit and only came back to the table to drink water and for
gus to take his shirt off. ;) gus was having a fucking blast!
personally, i won't go anywhere near a pit anymore, but he had a
blast, he was on people's shoulders, he was screaming (he had no voice
today, and his ears are still ringing a little bit.)  i danced
UPSTAIRS to a few songs that i recognized, that was pretty awesome, i
had lots of room and a personal fan club, plus, of course, easy access
to my drinks.  some random hippie-kinda-rivethead hugged me at some
point, but he meant well and i wasn't offended.  it was very much like
the (and i hesitate to say this) energy at a grateful dead show,
where everyone is so in tune with the music, and you are just so
joyful and dancing, you just feel like hugging your neighbor.  never
thought you'd hear a kmfdm show compared to a dead show, did you?
btw, there were maybe 300 people in attendance, enough space for
everyone to be comfortable, but still enough people to work up some
energy.

oh, the set list, you say?  hrm...

-a whole bunch of newer songs i didn't recognize
-more newer songs that i didn't recognize
-a new song that i didn't recognize that had a great bass groove
-another few new songs that i didn't recognize
-some chatting with the crowd about being back home
-some songs that sounded older, but i still didn't recognize
-a song that i recognized, but don't know the name of
-some more songs that i sort of recognized but don't know the names of
-more chatting with the crowd about 36 shows in X days, and "seattle!!!"
-juke joint jezebel
-some other song that gus says, "i know kelly or brian played this,
 you have to know it"
-some other songs that sounded familiar
-break/encore
-other songs that sounded more familiar that i just don't know the names of
-more chatting with the crowd/encore
-that song "god-like" or whatever the name really is
-another song
-good night seattle and thanks!

heh.


deeann mikula hartmann

"the limits of my language mean the limits of my world."
   --ludwig wittgenstein, tractatus logico-hilosophicus