live action 54

01jul93

symposium - cleveland, usa

william bennett, peter sotos, jim goodall

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, birthdeath experience, asking for it, shitfun

notes: audience 175 / live action videoed

review:
Whitehouse are an English Noise band who started out in 1978 (sic). They haven’t done anything in the last couple of years (sic), but now they’re back on tour. The basic instrumentation of this band is two small analog synths and one vocalist. The Synthesizers make a throbbing repetitive noise that is the "music" while the vocalist screams. Whitehouse is out to annoy people. They started their set by insisting that the audience come forward, and when they did, they assaulted them with a barrage of shrieks and squeals. The singer started one song by saying "this is from our first record" and then walked around the stage, looking very annoyed. The other two band members followed suit. For five minutes we were treated to this, with the band members egging people on to make some noise. They played the hit "You Don’t Have To Say Please (Get Down On Your Knees And Suck My Cock" (sic). They played for about 50 minutes, all in all a rather pleasant bit of annoyance. My only regret was that they missed Undercurrents.

Opening act Intrinsic Action had the same set-up, two little synths on two tables, with one vocalist who looked like a death metal escapee. Their hour of noise warmed the audience up for the headliners. Actually, they were on tour with Whitehouse, and acted as their roadies.

live action 55

03jul93

lounge ax - chicago, usa

william bennett, peter sotos, jim goodall

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, birthdeath experience, asking for it

notes: audience 275-300 / live action videoed / other groups on bill were fuckface, intrinsic action, and killdozer

live action 56

05jul93

the unicorn - milwaukee, usa

william bennett, peter sotos, jim goodall

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, birthdeath experience, asking for it, queen myra, shitfun

notes: audience 80 / live action videoed / support acts are fuckface and intrinsic action / local radio interview conducted

live action 57

07jul93

1st avenue - minneapolis, usa

william bennett, peter sotos, jim goodall

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, birthdeath experience, asking for it, twice is not enough, shitfun

notes: audience 110 / support acts are intrinsic action and outhouse

review:
Around about 1985, Whitehouse was a name with credence among post-industrial antisocial types. They appeared on sought-after compilations like Ohrenschrauben. They released LPs named after German lust-murderers, they were interviewed in the pages of rags like The Other Sound by starry-eyed little heinie who, against the advice of Strunk and White, spelled "of" with a V and anything they kould with a K. But these Britons’ Modus Operandi (sic) seems horribly dated today. Could there really still be folks who think they can push the envelope by describing sadomasochistic scenes and barking orders over a static distorted drone?

Yup. And even more embarrassing is the fact that New York’s Intrinsic Action feel so inspired by it that they reproduce what little substance Whitehouse has almost exactly. In fact, by using the LFOs on their synths, they do Whitehouse one better by giving their one-key-held-down drones a modicum of riddim. Arguably, Whitehouse were better entertainers but their NY Dolls-cum-Throbbing Gristle audience-baiting tactics still couldn’t provoke the Fratboys wandering in from Sex-O-Rama to blows. Maybe if they spiced up their set with a few reflections on shitting they would be more provocative. The late G.G. Allin has already taken these themes to their logical extreme with a lot more honesty than these stuffy-shut-ins will ever be able to muster. I don’t imagine Whitehouse and Intrinsic Action would appreciate this appraisal, but the monotony of their insipid "concept" is no doubt matched by the humorlessness of their pretensions. Even the Cows probably know more about sexuality’s darker side. David Lacey

live action 58

13nov93

Les EPE - paris, france

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, birthdeath experience, asking for it, twice is not enough, shitfun

notes: full capacity audience 135 with large numbers of people left outside unable to get in / live action videoed / no support group / in underground venue with very poor wiring - members of group get electric shocks from the walls - peter sotos by touching gives a shock to a member of the audience / some trouble at the front of stage caused by a few punks

review (translated from French):
Les EPE announces a sell-out for what promises to be the event of the year. Basically, it was going to be possible for me to see this legendary group, these "masters of the ultra-violence", the very pioneers!

In fact, my disappointment (a feeling shared by many there that evening), was at least as big as my initial enthusiasm.

For barely 40 minutes, I witnessed a concert which I will kindly put down as a botch-up. The volume level was ridiculously low (I was expecting sonic aggression, not night music!), the pieces played were all shortened which didn’t make for any atmosphere. Peter Sotos was ridiculous in his attempts to excite an audience which perhaps would have reacted if the music had been at the maximum. Alone, William Bennett, isolated in his own interior world, spewed forth some of the anticipated utterances. This overall mess lasting 30 minutes came to a premature (!) end with the unforeseen destruction of a keyboard and a speaker (!!!). Miserable end to a miserable evening! One to forget.

I have since learnt that their concert in Stuttgart had been cancelled. People can make of that what they want!

Kill your idols?

live action 59

14nov93

rockline - lille, france

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, birthdeath experience, asking for it, twice is not enough, shitfun

notes: audience 100 / no support group

live action 60

16nov93

zwischenfall - bochum, germany

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, asking for it, movement 1994, twice is not enough, death penalty, shitfun

notes: audience 165 / no support group

live action 61

18nov93

reithalle - bern, switzerland

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, asking for it, movement 1994, twice is not enough, death penalty, shitfun

notes: audience 150 / huge PA system is destroyed by whitehouse sound

live action 62

19nov93

cooperativa portalupi - vigevano, italy

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, asking for it, movement 1994, twice is not enough, death penalty, shitfun

notes: audience 80 / live action videoed / no support group

live action 63

20nov93

el paso - turin, italy

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, asking for it, movement 1994, twice is not enough, death penalty

notes: huge audience of about 400 crammed in / no support group / at venue william bennett gets bitten by large dog before before concert and must go to hospital / electrical blackout during performance with ensuing utter chaos / no subsequent resumption and eventually whitehouse manage to get away

live action 64

21nov93

ilot 13 - geneva, switzerland

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, the second coming, asking for it, movement 1994, twice is not enough, death penalty, shitfun, right to kill

notes: audience 90 / live action videoed / no support group

live action 65

04nov94

shelter - tokyo, japan

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock’s on fire, i’m comin’ up your ass, movement 1994, the second coming, death penalty, shitfun, tit pulp, halogen

notes: audience 100 / entrance fee on the night is about £40 (¥6,500) / philip best uses new yamaha synthesiser for first time replacing the toy yamaha keyboard used since LA47 / philip best sings tit pulp for first time since early eighties to great effect / audience reaction varied during the set and swings from politeness and passivity to utter pandemonium / peter sotos finds keyboard table removed by members of audience during chaos of shitfun / sound engineers are dismayed as the inevitable beer flies all over the front monitors - they spend hours after the show dismantling them and drying them with hairdryers / support group swamp terrorists

live action 66

05nov94

shelter - tokyo, japan

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

great white death, my cock’s on fire, ass-destroyer, death penalty, mindphaser, movement 1994, shitfun, tit pulp, right to kill

notes: audience 100 (mostly different from LA65) / support group swamp terrorists

live action 67

06nov94

shelter - tokyo, japan

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock’s on fire, queen myra, death penalty, hungry for pain, movement 1994, shitfun, tit pulp, halogen

notes: audience 100 (like LA66, mostly new audience) / support group swamp terrorists

live action 68

23mar95

cumberland arms - newcastle, uk

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, dedicated to peter kurten, mindphaser, hungry for pain, death penalty, shitfun, tit pulp, halogen

notes: audience 55 / no support group

live action 69

25mar95

1 in 12 club - bradford, uk

william bennett, peter sotos, philip best

dictator, my cock's on fire, i'm comin' up your ass, dedicated to peter kurten, mindphaser, hungry for pain, death penalty, shitfun, tit pulp, halogen

notes: audience 65 / support is female duet of singer/acoustic guitarist and cellist