Revolting Cocks (w/ Frontline Assembly) @ Danforth Music Hall (Toronto, ON) on November 19, 2017 [Photos & Show Review]

I can’t put into words how important music like Revolting Cocks and Frontline Assembly was to me growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s. I guess I just did – but not with enough impact. Bands like Foetus, Ministry and Skinny Puppy opened me up to an incredible world of, dare I say it, “Industrial Music”. These bands featured electronic / synthesized drums, synthesizers, uptempo drum and bass lines and distorted vocals, and would shepherd in the success-stories of bands like Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein and Marilyn Manson.

Industrial Music is a term that grew to be hated by most bands within the genre – tossed around in trade magazines much like women’s underpants were being tossed around the Danforth Music Hall this evening as Revolting Cocks performed. The genre itself, owing a huge debt of gratitude to Wax Trax! Records – undeniably THE label to be on if you performed this style of music in the 1980s.

The 1986 debut of Big Sexy Land by Revolting Cocks featured Luc Van Acker, Richard 23 and Alain Jourgensen – Jourgensen trying his damnedest to replicate the production stylings Adrian Sherwood utilized on Ministry’s Twitch, which saw release at around the same time as Big Sexy Land. Neither of these releases was considered particularly commercial back then, nor would they be now, but their impact on the underground music world is a thing of legend amongst fans of the genre.

Up until last year, Richard 23, Luc Van Acker, Chris Connelly and Paul Barker taking Big Sexy Land out on the road for a run of tour dates was something fans could only dream of. The eight songs that comprised the album have all become fan favourites, and this tour would give audiences a chance to witness the album performed in entirety by 2/3rds of its originators. Adding in Paul Barker and Chris Connelly (who joined Revolting Cocks as touring members on Big Sexy Land and stayed in the band for years afterward) rounded out the package perfectly. Fans were treated to the entirety of Big Sexy Land sung by Richard 23, and then Chris Connelly replaced him onstage for six additional Revco classics. Connelly, Richard 23 and the entirety of openers Dead Dog took the stage for the encore of the Rod Stewart “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? cover.”

As a total bonus, Frontline Assembly performed 10 songs to warm up the crowd on this tour. The impact and success of the members of Frontline Assembly can’t be measured in numbers like Pop 40 bands, but the combined might of Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber and Chris Peterson, and their impact on underground and club music is something that would take a myriad of paragraphs and cross-reference to accomplish. Getting to see Bill and current FLA members Jeremy Inkel and Jared Slingerland was incredible. “Killing Grounds” and “Mindphaser” sounded amazing live this evening.

Side note: I’ve never photographed a band under a rain-showering of panties before. Beer, Spit, and water bottles, yes. Women’s under-garments, never. Thanks for that, Revco!

Frontline Assembly Setlist:
01. The Chair
02. Resist
03. Killing Grounds
04. Neologic Spasm
05. Blood
06. Plasticity
07. Remorse
08. Prophecy
09. Iceolate
10. Mindphaser

Revolting Cocks Setlist:
(Richard 23 on vocals)
01. Big Sexy Land
02. 38
03. We Shall Cleanse the World
04. Attack Ships on Fire
05. Union Carbide
06. TV Mind
07. No Devotion
08. You Often Forget

(Chris Connelly on vocals)
01. Cattle Grind
02. Physical (Olivia Newton‐John cover)
03. Stainless Steel Providers
04. Crackin’ Up
05. Something Wonderful
06. Beers, Steers & Queers
Encore:
07. Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?

Check out Revolting Cocks’ “Something Wonderful” at Danforth Music Hall, Toronto – November 19th, 2017.