This was my first time seeing Front 242 live. We missed the supporting band
Cassandra Complex as we drove down from Michigan, a 2.5 hr drive one way in good traffic.
The Congress Hall, known also as The Congress Theatre, is a great place to see a live
band. It's an older building on the north side of Chicago with an elegant taste of
nostalgia with its interior architechture. The acoustics are excellent, the stage is huge
(see photos in link below), and I'd guess the venue fits a few 1000 people in it. There
are seats on the bottom floor in front of what might have been an orchestra pit or dance
floor, and seats on the second floor of the Theatre. I think the PA was brought in
or rented, and there were two large video screens with whack video images running the
entire evening.
The crowd was very enthusiastic about Front 242 playing live.
Mostly young people in the late teens to early 30s crowded the theatre, the downstairs was
quite packed, especially up near the stage where I initially stood waiting for the show,
but quickly removed myself from it with the help of bouncers, as the pressure behind me
from the mass of energetic 242 followers were literally crushing me against the
stage. There was NO pit for anyone to photograph the show, and one could pretty much
reach out and touch the band, if they had arms long enough to do so.
I found myself eventually positioned at the right of the stage, in
front of a number of large speaker boxes doubled on top of one another. Most of the
show I spent using a digital camera to shoot the band, but I was able to enjoy the music
while shooting. 242 played a number of their most famed tracks, including Headhunter,
Welcome To Paradise, Body to Body etc. Rumour has it they somewhat
remixed tracks, however this was my first time to see Front 242 live so I have no
experience from which to compare live performances.
242 were very energetic and lively while dancing to the
pounding rhythms and rumbling bass lines. The set seemed rather short, about an
hour, however they did two encores. The music sounded pretty tight even from my
right stage point of aural listening. Someone told me after the show who had seen
them many times in the past, that they have "sounded better". I was able
to get my 242 discography signed by Patrick, Jean Luc and Richard after the show.
They were very sweet considering I asked them to sign over 30 pieces of my memorablia. 242
being one of the first bands I started listning to and collecting their works, I couldn't
resist asking them to sign it all.
The after show that I was able to catch some great music which
consisted of DJ
Trancid spinning some superb techno/EBM bass beat heavy music. He was very good.
DJ Trancid, Chicago
To see more photos from this concert, go to: 242 Live In Chicago. To read our interview with DJ Trancid go Here. To watch a short clip of the show in
mpeg format click HERE. To read interviews with
Patrick Codneys, go to Interviews.
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