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Skinny Puppy was the band who perked my ears to hard electronic music. They influenced an entire generation of electronic artists, with their aggressive dark style. Not only was their music incredible but their live performances were something to behold. Alas, other than seeing their live video "Ain't It Dead Yet?" I never saw the band in a live setting. However, I got to see the next best thing; front man Ogre (phonetically altered to the passive/aggressive "Ohgr" for his collaboration with Mark Walk) with his new band, playing their only Florida date, and in my hometown no less! If that wasn't good enough, former Skinny Puppy drummer Cevin Key was pounding the skins on this tour as well! It's no secret that Ogre and Kevin reunited for a Skinny Puppy concert at the Doomsday Festival in Dresden Germany last year. So, perhaps his inclusion on this tour is testing the waters for possible Skinny Puppy dates in the future. However, this is Ogre's show, his project and his music, and that was what we were in for tonight.
As anxious as I was to see the show, I was more anxious about meeting the man
himself, thanks to Max arranging a little meet and greet for a select
few. He turned out to be a very nice, down to earth person, and took time to talk, take pictures and sign autographs for everyone. It was a very cool experience. So now I was definitely hyped for the show!
After arriving at Club 5, I noticed it was not as crowded as I expected, and I figured that perhaps the crowd would thicken after the opening band. Hate Dept was to be the opening crowd pleaser, and I was very curious as to how they would sound. I have a few tracks on compilations that sounded pretty good, so I hoped they would sound just as good live. The band hit the stage to a not so delighted audience. The first couple of songs seemed mediocre, but after that the band seemed to find it's niche and really started to rock. The crowd however, was still booing and heckling them, but the lead vocalist took it all in stride giving it right back to them. I noticed that their guitarist kept spitting into the audience on every song, which I thought was uncalled for, until I found out that the audience was throwing lit cigarettes at him! So I don't blame him. The band's industrial/metal style won over a few in the crowd, and I did recognize a few of the songs. Overall, I enjoyed them despite a slow start. I would like to see them again, preferably with a more agreeable crowd.
By the time OhGr made their appearance to the faithful, the club had definitely become more crowded (although not as much as I expected.) Ogre came on stage with his face hidden behind several mask's and kept teasing the audience through several songs before taking them all off. Much of the music was primarily from his newest solo album "WeLt," with a few songs that I did not recognize. Most of the songs were familiar such as "Kettle", "Chaos", "Cracker", and the club favorite "Water." One song that did not get played was "Porus," which was one of my particular favorites. Oh well. The band's sound was geared to a more 'arena rock' sound, with the addition of the live drums, and heavy guitar which I think stood out slightly more than on the CD.
Ogre's stage antics were severely toned down from his Skinny Puppy days (no blood and needles,) but still very theatrical and bizarre. However, this is not Puppy, and anyone who came expecting that was probably very disappointed. As a matter of fact, they did not play any Puppy material whatsoever. Many fans probably thought that since he did not have very much solo material, he would throw in some songs from the good al' days. WRONG! The closest they came was to closing the show with "Frozen Sky" the track Ogre performed vocals for Cevin Key's latest CD "The Ghost of Each Room." Aside from that, Ogre stuck to his guns and let his new material speak for itself. And speak it did. It was powerful and full of energy, and like all of his work, the lyrics make you think.
I think the majority of fans were open minded enough to see an artist who is growing and exploring new territory, and I am fairly confident most came out of the show with a smile on their face. I know I did.
by Craig Harvey
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