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Mike Ramirez
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Last Update
5 August 1998
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FRONT
242
Re:Boot
Tour
Hallandale
Florida
6
August 1998
__________________________________
Front 242 emerges back onto the scene after a 5 year
hiatus from their
1993 Up Evil tour. Their 1998 Re:Boot Tour bombarded
Hallandale's
Button South club last Tuesday [6 August, 1998] with a wall
of high energy
industrial/dance rhythms, bringing along supporting act, Project
Pitchfork.
Project Pitchfork was nothing at all exciting. Their albums,
which I am
not a fan of, sound much better than what these guys produce live.
There
was too much ego, and not enough musicianship. I have very little
respect
for bands that care more about their image than they do about playing
their music [live for fans], and that seems to be a huge issue
in the
industrial/electronic genre. Also, Pitchfork was not an
appropriate opener for
Front 242 for this tour. After conducting an interview with
242 keyboardist
Patrick Codenys, he explained how 242's new style
is much different
from what they used to do. So lay to rest the
industrial/thrash/EBM rhythms and welcome something new,
which is exactly what 242 brought us.
Front 242 hit the stage around 10:30 [pm] or show, and opened
right up with
pure energy. After existing for over 17 years, the band hasn't
aged a bit,
according to their physical strength on stage. Vocalists Jean
Luc-De Meyer
and Richard 23 ran and jumped around on stage the whole
night, while guest
drummer Tim Kroker (Sabotage Q.C.Q.C.) slammed out
the electronic drums,
keyboardist Patrick Codenys did his synth work, and live
mixer/sequence
runner Daniel B. was behind the mixing desk running sequences
and using
his live vocal sampling skills. One thing Front 242 should
be noted for is
their intelligent use of live sequencing, which defeats the use
of having
playback tapes which so many electronic artists use today [live].
Some of the fans did not recognize the songs, since they were all
re-worked. The band got a lot of crowd response from hit songs
such as
Headhunter, Welcome To Paradise, Im Rhythmus Blieben,
and Punish
Your Machine.Front 242 also played older songs (Body
To Body, No
Shuffle) from the start of their career, but they were highly
unrecognizable until [in came] the lyrics.
It was a great experience seeing Front 242 come back after
5 years of
silence. Although I am a fan of their older works, the reworked
songs for
the 1998 Re:Boot Tour were excellent. Their live show makes
you want to
question bands like The Prodigy as being bad Front 242
clones.
Mike Ramirez
Florida Atlantic University
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