Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman Hosts An ‘Unspeakable’ Evening in Manchester [Photos]

“It’s not what I imagined,” ponders one fan as we queue for the bar during the interval. He’s not wrong either but, as another fan offers up, “I’ve been to a few of his talks and they end up rarely being about Killing Joke…”

We’re sat in Manchester’s delightful Stoller Hall where the Killing Joke frontman is hosting the second date of his UK tour. Billed as An Evening with Jaz Coleman – Unspeakable – An Oral History of Killing Joke, one of UK rock’s most colourful characters is holding court with a room full of fans. One of those fans, Napalm Death guitarist Shane Embury, chairs the conversation with Coleman although, for the most part, it feels like a bit of a redundant role.
27

The first half of the show, which the iconic frontman explains will be based around the first two Killing Joke albums (1980’s self-titled album and 1981’s What’s THIS For…!) starts with Coleman emotionally talking about the recent and tragic death of his bandmate and friend, Geordie Walker.

From there on out for the first fifty or so minutes, the larger-than-life Coleman discusses a number of subjects which, while connected to the inspiration behind the material on the aforementioned albums, are clearly driven by Coleman’s own political, social, and religious views. Turning more into a rally about the state of the UK, the state of the planet and an insight into his own life, the vocalist delivered his views in an informed, passionate, well researched way.

The second hour of the show was handed over to questions from the audience. Now, despite Coleman stating this show was based on the first two albums, questions from fans covered a range of topics all of which the Killing Joke frontman answered in some depth as fans dug into the volatile story that was Killing Joke.

Drugs, touring with Ministry, their own explosive internal and personal relationships and his own relationship with Geordie, Coleman was happy to answer it all and, even with the session running over, it felt like it could have gone on for another couple of hours. Although, seeing the vocalist in the foyer almost immediately the performance had finished, you can imagine he was still chewing the fat with fans as the last remaining staff of the night were pushing him out of the door.

Looping back to the original comment made during the interval, this isn’t so much the deep dive into one of the most influential UK rock bands as most people were expecting but, what Coleman’s wide-ranging explorations show, is WHY Killing Joke became one of the most influential UK rock bands in existence.

For more information on Jaz Coleman and the Spoken Word tour, visit his Official Website here.

An Evening with Jaz Coleman @ Stoller Hall (Manchester, UK) on March 20, 2024

20 photos