Show: Gang of Four
Date: February 21, 2011
Venue: The Music Box
City: Hollywood, CA
Gang of Four
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Michelle Oberg
An iconic band that has influenced some of the likes of Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and R.E.M., began their US/UK tour in February 2011; also making a stop in El Lay to promote their first album release, Content, in 16 years. New members and old style donned the stage The Music Box with a sound that reminisces their original politically and socially infused post-punk, dance rock, disco style that hasn’t sounded this good since their first album Entertainment!. Gang of Four, even 32 years after their birth, still hit the stage with energy of that of a twenty-something band may. Though you won’t find the complete original line-up – Jon King (vocals), Andy Gill (guitar), Mark Heaney (drums), and Thomas McNeice (bass) – this new formation shares an evident chemistry of artistic passion. That kind of symmetry results in harmonious stage presence and an earful of audio that will leave you dumbfounded.
Heaney enters first to a red lit, smoke-filled stage of a sample of Native tribal drumbeats. Gill, King, and McNeice follow up next in that formation. As King sways his mic stand back and forth, the quartet starts the show with “You’ll Never Pay For The Farm.” Initially, the vocals weren’t high enough but that didn’t stop the entry into a night filled with dance moves resembling that of Fred Astaire on acid. Watching on, to the most notable show in recent years, each member offers a different approach to their stage act; King, dancing aside, crawls on the floor like he’s stranded in a desert, dehydrated, trying to make it to a waterfall mirage, McNeice dances to the beat of his own sound looking completely engulfed in the music as if no one else is in the room, Heaney shines through with his heavy beats although the actual image of him is hiding amidst the smoke, and Gill personifies the true meaning of “guitar hero” as he holds notes for what seems like minutes at a time using his teeth, mic stand, or any other object aside from his hands.
As the show becomes more rock infused, with songs like “Anthrax” and new track, “I Party All The Time,” it becomes complete by the smashing of Gill’s guitar and the handing of the pieces to crazed, screaming fans. Using synthesizers, cowbells, tambourines, and vocal tricks give imagery of seeing every rock show you can imagine in one lifetime – in one room. The psychedelic, trippy sounding tunes have Hendrix, Slash, and Pink Floyd dancing through my head providing an intense feeling of influenced imagery.
Two encores led to a total of an 18 song set, incorporating some of the older hits with a louder, heavier twist. “I Love a Man in Uniform,” which originally had Sara Lee conceiving the more radio-friendly track, sounded as good, if not better, than the earlier form. The thirty-plus age range of concert-goers surprisingly had a lot of pep in their step through out the whole show, but energies did dwindle toward the end. Though less active, a quite vocal audience took to the hit-making machine hard, using their carbed up glucose beer reserve to open up the significantly intense first mosh pit for their anthemed last song “Damaged Goods.” Gang of Four’s free spirited, explosive edginess embodied a visionary performance while never adhering to stage aesthetics. This wasn’t a Katy Perry show, and there was no brightly colored stage flair, just an astronomically proportioned talent/hit making foursome of instrumental reinforcers.