November 29th 1984 – Mr Kiesa’s
Cabaret Voltaire never did loads of gigs, let alone come to Leicester, so when Kiesa’s got them it was a must go. Crackdown and Just Fascination were great electronic tunes and the Cabs were Sheffield’s answer to Krafkwerk. I don’t think this tour had a name.
Stephen Mallinder, Rich Kirk and Chris Watson were the band and I guess you would describe them as electronic, synth, experimenting with the sounds the synths could make and mixing it all up with a drum machine backing.
The gig was a full on light experience as well as music, I can’t ever remember being at a gig again where all the flashing lights and video screen gave me a headache!
The press article mentions the single Nag Nag Nag, but I don’t think they played this much to our disappointment. Even more weirdly, it mentions the music as “pop”….I don’t really think this stands alongside Culture Club and Duran Duran!
This was intense electronic music, nothing like OMD or those around at the time such as Depeche Mode, Talk Talk or Japan.
No, this was industrial hardcore music……I’d move away from it soon after this, but the style stuck in my mind. It was a step up sound wise from Ultravox too.I remember the bass line thudding through your chest as well, which was quite uncomfortable, suggesting I’d perhaps prefer to listen to this music at home!
Another great musical experience and I had already got to hear a few variations of what music could sound like and we are still in 1984!!
Set List
- Animation
- Kino
- Sensoria
- Haiti
- Just Fascination
- Digital Rasta
- Ghostalk
- Do Right
- Encore: Crackdown
Leave a Reply