The Strange and Talented Days of Killing Joke
This is a band not for the faint of heart, not for the uncommitted. They will raise you up/take you down, amaze you/daze you, and never cease to craze you. Maybe that is the killing joke. If it is, I am in on it.
Instigated in a fire ritual of the occult, the members formed in London, there were early gigs playing support for Joy Division, later they scored an unlikely and never repeated 80’s hit. They soon abandoned the mainstream and have been left of the dial ever since. The members have found success in many side projects, collectively they are name-checked by many of the most successful alternative ninety’s bands. They had Dave Grohl step in, to drum on a mid-career album as a favour.
All in all, you could not make up this band’s history. You could not find a more unlikely band of brothers. A band who come together to create not just a live set, but a happening of transcendental darkness, and a gathering of souls whenever they play together.
Seeing them live was a long time waiting for me. Whilst band leader Jaz Coleman has some New Zealand connections and was a regular visitor to his Cythera island, it was not until June 14, 2013, that the band landed and played the major centres. More on that night soon.
When did I first discover them? Early on, the second album (now a 40-year…
